HR: 1330h
AN: C12A-0866    [PDF]
TI: Arctic Sea Ice in 2003: A Year after the 2002 Record Minimum
AU: * Stroeve, J C
EM: stroeve@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Fetterer, F
EM: fetterer@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Maslanik, J
EM: jimm@northwind.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Knowles, K
EM: knowlesk@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Scambos, T
EM: teds@icehouse.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Serreze, M
EM: serreze@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AB: Among the more apparent changes in the Arctic during the recent decades,sea ice extent isarguably one parameter whose variability and trends are firmly established. Several independent analysis have led to the consensus that the annual sea ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere decreased ~3% per decade from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. Seasonal and monthly analysis have found the negative trends to be greatest in summer as exemplified by the last year's record low summer ice miminum in September 2002. Although early summer 2003 did not appear to be unusual in terms of ice extent,the ice extent for August 2003 is near the August value in 2002 and the ice pack appears very diffuse with many ice floes appearing thin and flooded, suggesting substantial melt and/or the presence of relatively thin ice at the end of spring. Thus, although ice extent is slightly greater than was the case in August 2002, there is the potential for the pack to decay further if southerly winds prevail. Neither the 2002 nor 2003 sea ice anomaly appear to be strongly linked positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation(AO) during the preceding winter which in the current view preconditions the ice cover to extensive summer decay. Interestingly, the AO during the winter of 2002/03 was strongly negative. This leads to the suggestion that in order to explain such large negative ice anomalies during negative AO years, it may be necessary to invoke more regional atmospheric forcings, especially in summer, oceanic conditions or factors internal to the ice cover. Similar to 2002, low pressure over the Canadian Basin in July appears to have promoted ice divergence and temperatures over much of the western Arctic were above normal from January through June 2003. Furthermore, it is reasonable to expect that a general decrease in ice thickness accompanying warming would manifest itself as greater sensitivity of the ice pack to wind forcings and albedo feedbacks. The decrease in the amount of multiyear ice and attendant changes in the ice thickness distribution could in turn pre-condition the arctic sea ice cover to further reductions in the subsequent summer(s). There may not even need to be a positive anomaly in the summer temperature to reach another low ice year.
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
DE: 4207 Arctic and Antarctic oceanography
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting