The July Arctic Front in North America from ECMWF ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Products

• Main Author: Ladd, Matthew Jared
• Other Authors: Gajewski, Konrad
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2009
• Subjects: Arctic front; North America; reanalysis; ERA-40; NCEP; air mass; Arctic; Canada; Ritchie; Soi; Tundra
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/19586; https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-4334

Boundaries between air masses, called frontal zones, have been associated with vegetation boundaries (Bryson, 1966; Hare and Ritchie, 1972). Using gridded climate reanalysis data, we analyze the air masses and frontal zones of North America. The position of the July Arctic front varies significantly through the period 1948-2007, with a mean position similar to that found by Bryson (1966). The variability of the front position can be associated with changes in the general circulation; when the AO and SOI are positive (negative), the position of the July Arctic front is further north (south). There is also more variability in the July Arctic front position in Eastern versus Western Canada. When the July Arctic front is north (south) of the mean position, the boreal forest and tundra vegetation is more (less) productive. There is some evidence that climate warming is only starting to shift the July Arctic front to the north. This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Polar Climate Stability Network (PCSN) project funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS).