American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 181521 bytes)    Cited by

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 29, NO. 22, 2053, doi:10.1029/2001GL014293, 2002

NAO influence on sea ice extent in the Eurasian coastal region

Aixue Hu

CGD/NCAR, Boulder, Colorado, USA


Claes Rooth

MPO/RSMAS, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA


Rainer Bleck

EES-8, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA


Clara Deser

CGD/NCAR, Boulder, Colorado, USA


Abstract

Influence of winter pre-conditioning of Arctic sea ice due to atmospheric forcing associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the reduction in summer sea ice extent is studied. It is found that winter sea ice is about 50 cm thinner in high-NAO index years than in low-NAO index years in the Eurasian coastal region mainly due to stronger wind-driven ice export. The thinner wintertime ice combined with strengthened southerlies in spring promotes an earlier break-up of the ice pack in the Eurasian coastal region, resulting in significant sea ice export. The higher ice efflux, in turn, further reduces the ice compactness, thus more solar radiation is absorbed by the oceans which enhances the summer melting process. Thus, winter and spring atmospheric anomalies associated with the positive phase of the NAO may underlie the reduction of summer sea ice extent observed during the 1980s and 1990s.

Published 20 November 2002.

Index Terms: 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; 4540 Oceanography: Physical: Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes; 4255 Oceanography: General: Numerical modeling.

Read Full Article (file size: 181521 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Hu, A., C. Rooth, R. Bleck, and C. Deser (2002), NAO influence on sea ice extent in the Eurasian coastal region, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29(22), 2053, doi:10.1029/2001GL014293.