Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Influences of NAO and the Hudson Bay sea-ice on the climate of eastern Canada

  • Published:
Climate Dynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sea-ice cover over the Hudson Bay (HB) exhibits large variability in the freeze-up season normally starting in November. Its influence on the climate over eastern Canada has been studied with the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM) in three steps. First, a 30-year continuous simulation from 1970 to 1999 was performed as a control run to evaluate the simulated climate variability over eastern Canada, in particularly variability associated with the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO). Then, 50 additional 1 month experiments were performed with modified sea-surface conditions prescribed over the HB. These integrations allowed us to quantify the contribution of HB sea-ice anomalies versus large scale NAO atmospheric variability (as defined by prescribed lateral boundary conditions) in inducing climate variability over eastern Canada. Results show that the NAO is the dominant factor controlling climate variability over eastern Canada. The contribution of HB sea-ice anomalies is significant only in the immediate coastal region. Under the influence of different phases of NAO, HB sea-ice anomalies do co-vary with temperature and precipitation anomalies downstream of the HB over eastern Canada. The ultimate cause of this co-variability is NAO variability which forces variability in both HB sea-ice cover as well as temperature/precipitation over eastern Canada.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Caya D, Laprise R (1999) A semi-implicit semi Lagrangian regional climate model: the Canadian RCM. Mon Weather Rev 127(3):341–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies HC (1976) A lateral boundary formulation for multi-level prediction models. Q J R Meteorol Soc 102:405–418

    Google Scholar 

  • Greatbatch RJ (2000) The North Atlantic Oscillation. Stoch Env Res Risk A 14(4):213–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell JW (1995) Decadal trends in the North Atlantic oscillation. Regional temperatures and precipitation. Science 269:676–679

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell JW (1996) Influence of variations in extratropical wintertime teleconnections on northern hemisphere temperature. Geophys Res Lett 23:665–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ikeda M, Symonds G, Yao T (1998) Simulated fluctuations in annual Laborador Sea ice cover. Atmos Ocean 28:106–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalnay E, Kanamitsu M, Kistler R, Collins W, Deaven D, Gandin L, Iredell M, Saha S, White G, Woollen J, Zhu Y, Leetmaa A, Reynolds B, Chelliah M, Ebisuzaki W, Higgins W, Janowiak J, Mo KC, Ropelewski C, Wang J (1996) Roy Jenne, Dennis Joseph. The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Amer Meteor Soc 77:437–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kushnir Y (1999) Europe’s winter prospects. Nature 398:289–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laprise R et al (1997) The formulation of André Robert MC2 (Mesoscale Compressible Community) model. Atmos Ocean 35(1):195–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Laprise R, Caya D, Frigon A, Paquin D (2003) Current and perturbed climate as simulated by the second-generation Canadian regional climate model (CRCM-II) over northwestern North America. Clim Dyn 21:405–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell TD, Jones PD (2005) An improved method of constructing a database of monthly climate observations and associated high-resolution grids. Int J Climatol 25:693–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers JC (1984) The association between the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Southern Oscillation in the Northern Hemisphere. Mon Wea Rev 112:1999–2015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rouse WR (1991) Impacts of Hudson Bay on the terrestrial climate of the Hudson Bay lowlands. Arct Alp Res 23:24–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scinocca JF, McFarlane N (2004) The variability of modeled tropical precipitation. J Atmos Sci 61:1993–2015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheng J, Zwiers F (1998) An improved scheme for time-dependent boundary conditions in atmospheric general circulation models. Clim Dyn 14:609–613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uppala SM, Kållberg PW, Simmons AJ, Andrae U, da Costa Bechtold V, Fiorino M, Gibson JK, Haseler J, Hernandez A, Kelly GA, Li X, Onogi K, Saarinen S, Sokka N, Allan RP, Andersson E, Arpe K, Balmaseda MA, Beljaars ACM, van de Berg L, Bidlot J, Bormann N, Caires S, Chevallier F, Dethof A, Dragosavac M, Fisher M, Fuentes M, Hagemann S, Hólm E, Hoskins BJ, Isaksen L, Janssen PAEM, Jenne R, McNally AP, Mahfouf J-F, Morcrette J-J, Rayner NA, Saunders RW, Simon P, Sterl A, Trenberth KE, Untch A, Vasiljevic D, Viterbo P, Woollen J (2005) The ERA-40 re-analysis. Quart J R Meteorol Soc 131:2961–3012. doi:10.1256/qj.04.176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verseghy D (1991) CLASS—a Canadian land surface scheme for GCMs. I: soil model. Int J Climatol 11:111–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verseghy D, McFarlane N, Lazare M (1993) CLASS—a Canadian land surface scheme for GCMs. II: vegetation model and coupled runs. Int J Climatol 13:347–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Loon h, Rogers JC (1978) The seesaw in winter temperatures between Greenland and northern Europe. Part I: general description. Mon Wea Rev 106:296–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker GT (1924) Correlation in seasonal variations of weather IX. Mem India Met Dept 24:275–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace JM, Gutzler DS (1981) Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the northern hemisphere winter. Mon Wea Rev 109:784–812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J et al (1994) Interannual variability of sea-ice cover in Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay and the Labrador sea. Atmos Ocean 32(2):421–447

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

CFCAS and Ouranos fund this project. Authors would like to thank full support of Ouranos Climate Simulation Team in the research. Dr. R. Roy and G. Pacher provided meteorological and hydrological data in La Grande basin and gave useful discussions for understanding local climate. Dr. K. Wilson provided sea ice data over the Hudson Bay.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), 550 Sherbrooke West, 19th floor, West Tower, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B9, Canada

    Minwei Qian, Colin Jones & Rene Laprise

  2. Ouranos Consortium, 550 Sherbrooke West, 19th floor, West Tower, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B9, Canada

    Daniel Caya

Authors
  1. Minwei Qian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Colin Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rene Laprise
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniel Caya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minwei Qian.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Qian, M., Jones, C., Laprise, R. et al. The Influences of NAO and the Hudson Bay sea-ice on the climate of eastern Canada. Clim Dyn 31, 169–182 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-007-0343-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-007-0343-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation