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Atmospheric Components of the Arctic Ocean Hydrologic Budget Assessed from Rawinsonde Data

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The Freshwater Budget of the Arctic Ocean

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((ASEN2,volume 70))

Abstract

The characteristics of precipitation minus evaporation (P-E) for the north Polar Cap (the region north of 70°N), the Arctic Ocean and a Central Arctic Ocean domain are examined by applying the aerological method to rawinsonde data collected between 1973 and 1995. Regional estimates of mean precipitation (P) are obtained using an improved climatology, and evaporation (E) is calculated as a residual. Annual mean P-E, P and E for the Polar Cap are estimated at 161 mm, 279 mm and 118 mm, respectively. Corresponding values for the Arctic Ocean are 153 mm, 252 mm and 99 mm compared to 174 mm, 202 mm and 28 mm for the Central Arctic Ocean. The latter domain excludes the Kara and Barents seas. For all three domains, mean P-E is positive for every month with a winter-half minimum and a late summer and autumn maximum. Precipitation also exhibits a summer maximum, indicating that P is largely a function of the large-scale moisture convergence. This seasonality contrasts sharply with the major terrestrial drainages, which tend to show a summer minimum in P-E and a summer maximum in P, indicating that summer precipitation is strongly related to within-region recycling of water vapor. None of the three domains show trends in P-E. For any season, large values are favored by situations leading to above-average moisture inflows along the Atlantic sector. Our estimate of mean P-E for the Polar Cap is lower than estimates based on gridded wind and moisture fields from “reanalysis” projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80309-0449, USA

    M. C. Serreze & R. G. Barry

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  1. M. C. Serreze
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  2. R. G. Barry
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, B.C., Canada

    Edward Lyn Lewis (Emeritus) (Emeritus)

  2. Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Darthmouth, N.S., Canada

    E. Peter Jones

  3. Institute of Marine Research, Kiel, Germany

    Peter Lemke (Professor of Meteorology) (Professor of Meteorology)

  4. National Water Research Institute, Saskatoon, Sk., Canada

    Terry D. Prowse

  5. Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK

    Peter Wadhams (Reader in Polar Studies) (Reader in Polar Studies)

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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Serreze, M.C., Barry, R.G. (2000). Atmospheric Components of the Arctic Ocean Hydrologic Budget Assessed from Rawinsonde Data. In: Lewis, E.L., Jones, E.P., Lemke, P., Prowse, T.D., Wadhams, P. (eds) The Freshwater Budget of the Arctic Ocean. NATO Science Series, vol 70. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4132-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4132-1_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6440-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4132-1

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