Abstract
The interannual variation of the Arctic Ocean ice thickness during the period 1954–1990 is investigated by using a coupled ocean-ice-atmosphere column model. The model is forced by poleward energy flux in the atmosphere from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, ice export from satellite observations, cloudiness, and precipitation observed at the Russian North Pole drift stations. During the period 1977–1986 the model ice thickness decreased from 3.2 m to 2.0 m. The decrease is mainly caused by extra melting due to larger poleward energy flux in summer, and reduced ice growth in winter as a result of both increased cloudiness and energy flux. Precipitation and ice export are of less importance. A sensitivity study shows that the NCEP/NCAR data is accurate enough with respect to stochastic errors to ensure that the thinning is not caused by forcing errors. It is also shown that the poleward energy flux during summer is the dominant factor for regulating the ice thickness. The column model gives different results compared to other model studies using 2D ice models, especially towards the end of the period. Possible reasons for this disparity are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beesley JA (2000) Estimating the effect of clouds on the Arctic surface energy budget. J Geophys Res 105: 10,103–10,117
Becker P, Björk G (1996) Residence times in the upper Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res 101(C12): 28,377–28,396
Björk G (1989) A one-dimensional time-dependent model for the vertical stratification of the upper Arctic Ocean. J Phys Oceanogr 19(1): 52–67
Björk G (1997) The relation between ice deformation oceanic heat flux and the ice thickness distribution in the Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res 102(C8): 18,681–18,698
Björk G, Söderkvist J (2002) Dependence of the Arctic Ocean ice thickness distribution on the poleward energy flux in the atmosphere. J Geophys Res (in press)
Briegleb BP, Bromwich DH (1998) Polar radiation budgets of the NCAR CCM3. J Clim 11: 1246–1269
Ebert EE, Curry JA (1993) An intermediate one-dimensional thermodynamic sea ice model for investigating ice-atmosphere interactions. J Geophys Res 98(C6): 10,085–10,109
Hack JJ, Boville BA, Briegleb BP, Kiehl JT, Rasch PJ, Williamson DL (1993) Description of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM2) NCAR Tech Note NCAR/TN-382+STR 108 pp Natl Cent For Atmos Res Boulder, Colorado, USA
Hilmer M, Lemke P (2000) On the decrease of Arctic sea ice volume. Geophys Res Lett 27(22): 3751–3754
Holloway G, Sou T (1999) Has Arctic sea ice rapidly thinned? J Clim 15(13): 1691–1701, 2000
Kwok R, Rothrock DA (1999) Variability of Fram Strait ice flux and North Atlantic Oscillation. J Geophys Res: 5177–5189
Marshunova MS, Mishin AA (1994) Handbook of the radiation regime of the Arctic Basin: Results from the drift stations. In: Radionov VF, Colony R (eds) University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory Technical Report APL-UW TR9413 52 pp plus appendices
Maykut GA (1982) Large scale heat exchange and ice production in the central Arctic. J Geophys Res 87: 7971–7984
Overland JE, Turet P (1994) Variability of the atmospheric energy flux across 70°N computed from the GFDL data set in Johannessen. In: OM, Muench RD, Overland JE (eds) Polar Oceans and their role in shaping the global environment. American Geophysical Union, pp 540
Polyakov IV, Johnson MA (2000) Arctic decadal and interdecadal variability. Geophys Res Lett (24): 4097–4100
Roach AT, Aagard K, Pease CH, Salo SA, Weingartner T, Pavlov V, Kulakov M (1995) Direct measurements of transport and water properties through the Bering Strait. J Geophys Res 100: 18443–18457
Rothrock D, Yu AY, Maykut GA (1999) Thinning of the Arctic Sea-Ice cover. Geophys Res Lett 26: 3469–3473
Thorndike AS (1992) A Toy model linking atmospheric thermal radiation and sea ice growth. J Geophys Res 97: 9401–9410
Trenberth KE, Caron JM, Stepaniak DP (2001) The atmospheric energy budget and implications for surface fluxes and ocean heat transports. Clim Dyn 17(4): 259–276
Walsh JE, Chapman L (2001) 20th-century sea-ice variations from observational data. Ann Glaciol 33: 444–448
Zhang J, Rothrock DA, Steele M (1998) Correction to “Warming of the Arctic Ocean by a strengthened Atlantic inflow: Model results”. Geophys Res Lett 25: 3541
Zhang JL, Rothrock D, Steele M (2000) Recent changes in Arctic sea ice: The interplay between ice dynamics and thermodynamics. J Clim 13: 17 3099–3114
Acknowledgements.
The authors thank JA Beesley for providing us with an improved version of the NCAR Column Radiation Model; Prof. G. Walin for valuable discussions and guidance throughout the work; and S Nerheim whose comments improved the manuscript. Financial support was given by the Swedish Research Council (VR) under the following grant: G 650-19981511/2000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Söderkvist, J., Björk, G. Ice thickness variability in the Arctic Ocean between 1954–1990, results from a coupled ocean-ice-atmosphere column model. Climate Dynamics 22, 57–68 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-003-0363-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-003-0363-z