Variation of sea ice extent in different regions of the Arctic Ocean
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Variation of sea ice extent in different regions of the Arctic Ocean CHEN Ping1*, ZHAO Jinping1 1 Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
Received 25 May 2016; accepted 18 July 2016 ©The Chinese Society of Oceanography and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017
Abstract
Sea ice in the Arctic has been reducing rapidly in the past half century due to global warming. This study analyzes the variations of sea ice extent in the entire Arctic Ocean and its sub regions. The results indicate that sea ice extent reduction during 1979–2013 is most significant in summer, following by that in autumn, winter and spring. In years with rich sea ice, sea ice extent anomaly with seasonal cycle removed changes with a period of 4–6 years. The year of 2003–2006 is the ice-rich period with diverse regional difference in this century. In years with poor sea ice, sea ice margin retreats further north in the Arctic. Sea ice in the Fram Strait changes in an opposite way to that in the entire Arctic. Sea ice coverage index in melting-freezing period is an critical indicator for sea ice changes, which shows an coincident change in the Arctic and sub regions. Since 2002, Region C2 in north of the Pacific sector contributes most to sea ice changes in the central Aarctic, followed by C1 and C3. Sea ice changes in different regions show three relationships. The correlation coefficient between sea ice coverage index of the Chukchi Sea and that of the East Siberian Sea is high, suggesting good consistency of ice variation. In the Atlantic sector, sea ice changes are coincided with each other between the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea as a result of warm inflow into the Kara Sea from the Barents Sea. Sea ice changes in the central Arctic are affected by surrounding seas. Key words: Arctic, sea ice extent, period of 4-6 years, sea ice margin, sea ice coverage indices Citation: Chen Ping, Zhao Jinping. 2017. Variation of sea ice extent in different regions of the Arctic Ocean. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, doi: 10.1007/s13131-016-0886-x
1 Introduction As one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, the Arctic region has received extensive attention in recent years. The Arctic sea ice is an important component part of the Arctic climate system which is affected by both the changes of the atmospheric and oceanic process. On the other hand, the variation of sea ice regulates the surrounding climate system (Aagaard and Carmack, 1989). The sea ice acts as a barrier restricting the water vapor flux and momentum exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. Most of the solar radiation is reflected back to space as a result of the high albedo properties of sea ice (Zhou and Wang, 2008). In addition, the melting and formation process of sea ice has a great influence on the ocean surface layer, i.e., the brine rejection from sea ice formation would increase the salinity of sea water while the melting of sea ice results in colder and fresher sea water. The ocean circulation then transfer these changing water
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