Articles | Volume 16, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
14 Mar 2022
Research article |
| 14 Mar 2022
| 14 Mar 2022
Arctic sea ice anomalies during the MOSAiC winter 2019/20
Klaus Dethloff
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine
Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Department of Oceanography, Graduate School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
Stefan Hendricks
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Younjoo J. Lee
Department of Oceanography, Graduate School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
Helge F. Goessling
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Thomas Krumpen
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Christian Haas
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Dörthe Handorf
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine
Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Robert Ricker
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Vladimir Bessonov
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Center of Ice and
Hydrometeorological Information, Bering Street 38, St. Petersburg, Russia
John J. Cassano
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences,
National Snow and Ice Data Center and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic
Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Jaclyn Clement Kinney
Department of Oceanography, Graduate School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
Robert Osinski
Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot 81712,
Poland
Markus Rex
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine
Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Annette Rinke
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine
Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Julia Sokolova
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Center of Ice and
Hydrometeorological Information, Bering Street 38, St. Petersburg, Russia
Anja Sommerfeld
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine
Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
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Weather and climate is determined by large-scale air pressure patterns, which can be grouped into a small number of representative patterns. We use two different statistical methods and data from 20 climate models to detect significant changes in a future scenario of strong warming. We focus on the summer season as this is important for both human activities and natural ecosystems. We find an increase in high pressure above Europe and low pressure above the Arctic ocean.
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This study presents continuous ship-borne measurements of methane (CH4) concentration and isotopic composition monitored during an ice drift expedition in 2020. Using trajectory analysis, we linked atmospheric CH4 variabilities to air mass pathways transported over open water or sea-ice. The study highlights the potential of ship-borne observations to fill significant data gaps in the high Arctic.
Lena G. Buth, Thomas Krumpen, Niklas Neckel, Melinda A. Webster, Gerit Birnbaum, Niels Fuchs, Philipp Heuser, Ole Johannsen, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 19, 6527–6545, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6527-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6527-2025, 2025
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Arctic sea ice is becoming smoother, raising the question of how these changes affect melt pond coverage and thereby surface albedo. Using airborne imagery and laser altimeter data, we investigated how pressure ridges influence melt ponds. The presence of ridges does not directly control pond fraction, but it does influence pond size distribution and pond geometry. Small ponds have a more complex shape on rough ice than on smooth ice, while the opposite is true for large ponds.
Steven Franke, Mara Neudert, Veit Helm, Arttu Jutila, Océane Hames, Niklas Neckel, Stefanie Arndt, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 19, 6319–6339, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6319-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6319-2025, 2025
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Our research explored how icebergs affect the distribution of snow and flooding on Antarctic coastal sea ice. Using aircraft-based radar and laser scanning, we found that icebergs create thick snow drifts on their wind-facing sides and leave snow-free zones in their lee. The weight of these snow drifts often causes the ice below to flood, forming slush. These patterns, driven by wind and iceberg placement, are crucial for understanding sea ice changes and improving climate models.
Yubing Cheng, Bin Cheng, Roberta Pirazzini, Amy R. Macfarlane, Timo Vihma, Wolfgang Dorn, Ruzica Dadic, Martin Schneebeli, Stefanie Arndt, and Annette Rinke
The Cryosphere, 19, 6001–6021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6001-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6001-2025, 2025
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We study snow density from the MOSAiC expedition. Several snow density schemes were tested and compared with observation. A thermodynamic ice model was employed to assess the impact of snow density and precipitation on the thermal regime of sea ice. The parameterized mean snow densities are consistent with observations. Increased snow density reduces snow and ice temperatures, promoting ice growth, while increased precipitation leads to warmer snow and ice temperatures and reduced ice thickness.
Sina Mehrdad, Sajedeh Marjani, Dörthe Handorf, and Christoph Jacobi
Weather Clim. Dynam., 6, 1491–1514, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-1491-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-1491-2025, 2025
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Wind flowing over mountains creates wave-like patterns aloft that can influence the atmosphere higher up in the stratosphere and mesosphere. In this study, we intensified these waves over specific regions like the Himalayas and Rocky Mountains and examined the resulting climate effects. We found that this can shift global wind patterns and even impact extreme events near the poles, showing how small regional changes in stratospheric wind patterns can influence the broader climate system.
Chen Zhang, John J. Cassano, Mark W. Seefeldt, Hailong Wang, Weiming Ma, and Wen-wen Tung
The Cryosphere, 19, 4671–4699, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4671-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4671-2025, 2025
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An atmospheric river (AR) is a long, narrow corridor of moisture transport in the atmosphere. ARs are crucial for moisture and heat transport into the polar regions. Our study examines the role of ARs in the surface energy budget (SEB) in the Arctic. The results reveal distinct seasonality and land–sea–sea ice contrasts due to the impacts of ARs on the SEB. The conclusions provide greater insights into the current and future role of ARs in the Arctic climate system.
Robert Ricker, Thomas Lavergne, Stefan Hendricks, Stephan Paul, Emily Down, Mari Anne Killie, and Marion Bocquet
The Cryosphere, 19, 3785–3803, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3785-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3785-2025, 2025
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We developed a new method to map Arctic sea ice thickness daily using satellite measurements. We address a problem similar to motion blur in photography. Traditional methods collect satellite data over 1 month to get a full picture of Arctic sea ice thickness. But in the same way as in photos of moving objects, long exposure leads to motion blur, making it difficult to identify certain features in the sea ice maps. Our method corrects for this motion blur, providing a sharper view of the evolving sea ice.
Lena Happ, Sonali Patil, Stefan Hendricks, Riccardo Fellegara, Lars Kaleschke, and Andreas Gerndt
ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., X-G-2025, 333–340, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-333-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-333-2025, 2025
Tatiana Klimiuk, Patrick Ludwig, Antonio Sanchez-Benitez, Helge F. Goessling, Peter Braesicke, and Joaquim G. Pinto
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 239–255, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-239-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-239-2025, 2025
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Our study examines potential changes in heatwaves in central Europe due to global warming, using the 2019 summer heatwave as an example. By producing high-resolution storylines, we provide insights into how future heatwaves might spread, how they might persist for longer, and where stronger or weaker temperature increases may occur. This research helps us understand regional thermodynamic responses and highlights the importance of local strategies to protect communities from future heat events.
Thomas Rackow, Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, Tobias Becker, Sebastian Milinski, Irina Sandu, Razvan Aguridan, Peter Bechtold, Sebastian Beyer, Jean Bidlot, Souhail Boussetta, Willem Deconinck, Michail Diamantakis, Peter Dueben, Emanuel Dutra, Richard Forbes, Rohit Ghosh, Helge F. Goessling, Ioan Hadade, Jan Hegewald, Thomas Jung, Sarah Keeley, Lukas Kluft, Nikolay Koldunov, Aleksei Koldunov, Tobias Kölling, Josh Kousal, Christian Kühnlein, Pedro Maciel, Kristian Mogensen, Tiago Quintino, Inna Polichtchouk, Balthasar Reuter, Domokos Sármány, Patrick Scholz, Dmitry Sidorenko, Jan Streffing, Birgit Sützl, Daisuke Takasuka, Steffen Tietsche, Mirco Valentini, Benoît Vannière, Nils Wedi, Lorenzo Zampieri, and Florian Ziemen
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 33–69, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-33-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-33-2025, 2025
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Detailed global climate model simulations have been created based on a numerical weather prediction model, offering more accurate spatial detail down to the scale of individual cities ("kilometre-scale") and a better understanding of climate phenomena such as atmospheric storms, whirls in the ocean, and cracks in sea ice. The new model aims to provide globally consistent information on local climate change with greater precision, benefiting environmental planning and local impact modelling.
Rui Xu, Chaofang Zhao, Stefanie Arndt, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 5769–5788, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5769-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5769-2024, 2024
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The onset of snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice is an important indicator of sea ice change. In this study, we used two radar scatterometers to detect the onset of snowmelt on perennial Antarctic sea ice. Results show that since 2007, snowmelt onset has demonstrated strong interannual and regional variabilities. We also found that the difference in snowmelt onsets between the two scatterometers is closely related to snow metamorphism.
Colin G. Jones, Fanny Adloff, Ben B. B. Booth, Peter M. Cox, Veronika Eyring, Pierre Friedlingstein, Katja Frieler, Helene T. Hewitt, Hazel A. Jeffery, Sylvie Joussaume, Torben Koenigk, Bryan N. Lawrence, Eleanor O'Rourke, Malcolm J. Roberts, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Roland Séférian, Samuel Somot, Pier Luigi Vidale, Detlef van Vuuren, Mario Acosta, Mats Bentsen, Raffaele Bernardello, Richard Betts, Ed Blockley, Julien Boé, Tom Bracegirdle, Pascale Braconnot, Victor Brovkin, Carlo Buontempo, Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Markus Donat, Italo Epicoco, Pete Falloon, Sandro Fiore, Thomas Frölicher, Neven S. Fučkar, Matthew J. Gidden, Helge F. Goessling, Rune Grand Graversen, Silvio Gualdi, José M. Gutiérrez, Tatiana Ilyina, Daniela Jacob, Chris D. Jones, Martin Juckes, Elizabeth Kendon, Erik Kjellström, Reto Knutti, Jason Lowe, Matthew Mizielinski, Paola Nassisi, Michael Obersteiner, Pierre Regnier, Romain Roehrig, David Salas y Mélia, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Michael Schulz, Enrico Scoccimarro, Laurent Terray, Hannes Thiemann, Richard A. Wood, Shuting Yang, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 1319–1351, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1319-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1319-2024, 2024
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We propose a number of priority areas for the international climate research community to address over the coming decade. Advances in these areas will both increase our understanding of past and future Earth system change, including the societal and environmental impacts of this change, and deliver significantly improved scientific support to international climate policy, such as future IPCC assessments and the UNFCCC Global Stocktake.
Sina Mehrdad, Dörthe Handorf, Ines Höschel, Khalil Karami, Johannes Quaas, Sudhakar Dipu, and Christoph Jacobi
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 1223–1268, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1223-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1223-2024, 2024
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This study introduces a novel deep learning (DL) approach to analyze how regional radiative forcing in Europe impacts the Arctic climate. By integrating atmospheric poleward energy transport with DL-based clustering of atmospheric patterns and attributing anomalies to specific clusters, our method reveals crucial, nuanced interactions within the climate system, enhancing our understanding of intricate climate dynamics.
Yi Zhou, Xianwei Wang, Ruibo Lei, Arttu Jutila, Donald K. Perovich, Luisa von Albedyll, Dmitry V. Divine, Yu Zhang, and Christian Haas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2821, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2821, 2024
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This study examines how the bulk density of Arctic sea ice varies seasonally, a factor often overlooked in satellite measurements of sea ice thickness. From October to April, we found significant seasonal variations in sea ice bulk density at different spatial scales using direct observations as well as airborne and satellite data. New models were then developed to indirectly predict sea ice bulk density. This advance can improve our ability to monitor changes in Arctic sea ice.
Lara Foth, Wolfgang Dorn, Annette Rinke, Evelyn Jäkel, and Hannah Niehaus
The Cryosphere, 18, 4053–4064, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4053-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4053-2024, 2024
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It is demonstrated that the explicit consideration of the cloud dependence of the snow surface albedo in a climate model results in a more realistic simulation of the surface albedo during the snowmelt period in late May and June. Although this improvement appears to be relatively insubstantial, it has significant impact on the simulated sea-ice volume and extent in the model due to an amplification of the snow/sea-ice albedo feedback, one of the main contributors to Arctic amplification.
Xavier J. Levine, Ryan S. Williams, Gareth Marshall, Andrew Orr, Lise Seland Graff, Dörthe Handorf, Alexey Karpechko, Raphael Köhler, René R. Wijngaard, Nadine Johnston, Hanna Lee, Lars Nieradzik, and Priscilla A. Mooney
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 1161–1177, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1161-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1161-2024, 2024
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While the most recent climate projections agree that the Arctic is warming, differences remain in how much and in other climate variables such as precipitation. This presents a challenge for stakeholders who need to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies. We tackle this problem by using the storyline approach to generate four plausible and actionable realisations of end-of-century climate change for the Arctic, spanning its most likely range of variability.
Falco Monsees, Alexei Rozanov, John P. Burrows, Mark Weber, Annette Rinke, Ralf Jaiser, and Peter von der Gathen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9085–9099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9085-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9085-2024, 2024
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Cyclones strongly influence weather predictability but still cannot be fully characterised in the Arctic because of the sparse coverage of meteorological measurements. A potential approach to compensate for this is the use of satellite measurements of ozone, because cyclones impact the tropopause and therefore also ozone. In this study we used this connection to investigate the correlation between ozone and the tropopause in the Arctic and to identify cyclones with satellite ozone observations.
Lars Kaleschke, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Stefan Hendricks, and Robert Ricker
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3149–3170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, 2024
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We describe a sea ice thickness dataset based on SMOS satellite measurements, initially designed for the Arctic but adapted for Antarctica. We validated it using limited Antarctic measurements. Our findings show promising results, with a small difference in thickness estimation and a strong correlation with validation data within the valid thickness range. However, improvements and synergies with other sensors are needed, especially for sea ice thicker than 1 m.
Gemma M. Brett, Greg H. Leonard, Wolfgang Rack, Christian Haas, Patricia J. Langhorne, Natalie J. Robinson, and Anne Irvin
The Cryosphere, 18, 3049–3066, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3049-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3049-2024, 2024
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Glacial meltwater with ice crystals flows from beneath ice shelves, causing thicker sea ice with sub-ice platelet layers (SIPLs) beneath. Thicker sea ice and SIPL reveal where and how much meltwater is outflowing. We collected continuous measurements of sea ice and SIPL. In winter, we observed rapid SIPL growth with strong winds. In spring, SIPLs grew when tides caused offshore circulation. Wind-driven and tidal circulation influence glacial meltwater outflow from ice shelf cavities.
Niels Fuchs, Luisa von Albedyll, Gerit Birnbaum, Felix Linhardt, Natascha Oppelt, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 2991–3015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2991-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2991-2024, 2024
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Melt ponds are key components of the Arctic sea ice system, yet methods to derive comprehensive pond depth data are missing. We present a shallow-water bathymetry retrieval to derive this elementary pond property at high spatial resolution from aerial images. The retrieval method is presented in a user-friendly way to facilitate replication. Furthermore, we provide pond properties on the MOSAiC expedition floe, giving insights into the three-dimensional pond evolution before and after drainage.
Yi Zhou, Xianwei Wang, Ruibo Lei, Luisa von Albedyll, Donald K. Perovich, Yu Zhang, and Christian Haas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1240, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1240, 2024
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This study examines how the density of Arctic sea ice varies seasonally, a factor often overlooked in satellite measurements of sea ice thickness. From October to April, using direct observations and satellite data, we found that sea ice density decreases significantly until mid-January due to increased porosity as the ice ages, and then stabilizes until April. We then developed new models to estimate sea ice density. This advance can improve our ability to monitor changes in Arctic sea ice.
Karl Kortum, Suman Singha, Gunnar Spreen, Nils Hutter, Arttu Jutila, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 2207–2222, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2207-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2207-2024, 2024
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A dataset of 20 radar satellite acquisitions and near-simultaneous helicopter-based surveys of the ice topography during the MOSAiC expedition is constructed and used to train a variety of deep learning algorithms. The results give realistic insights into the accuracy of retrieval of measured ice classes using modern deep learning models. The models able to learn from the spatial distribution of the measured sea ice classes are shown to have a clear advantage over those that cannot.
Katrin Müller, Peter von der Gathen, and Markus Rex
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4693–4716, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4693-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4693-2024, 2024
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The transport history of tropospheric air masses above the tropical western Pacific is studied by local ozone and relative humidity profile measurements from Palau. A prominent anti-correlation between both tracers separates air masses of different origin and genesis. Back trajectories confirm a local convective origin of the year-round humid ozone-poor background. Anomalously dry ozone-rich air is generated in tropical Asia by pollution and dehydrated during transport via radiative cooling.
Luisa von Albedyll, Stefan Hendricks, Nils Hutter, Dmitrii Murashkin, Lars Kaleschke, Sascha Willmes, Linda Thielke, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Gunnar Spreen, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 1259–1285, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1259-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1259-2024, 2024
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Leads (openings in sea ice cover) are created by sea ice dynamics. Because they are important for many processes in the Arctic winter climate, we aim to detect them with satellites. We present two new techniques to detect lead widths of a few hundred meters at high spatial resolution (700 m) and independent of clouds or sun illumination. We use the MOSAiC drift 2019–2020 in the Arctic for our case study and compare our new products to other existing lead products.
Mckenzie J. Dice, John J. Cassano, and Gina C. Jozef
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 369–394, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-369-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-369-2024, 2024
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This study aims to identify the main reasonings for changes in boundary layer stability, namely changes in radiative forcing or mechanical mixing (wind shear). Across the continent of Antarctica, varying stability in the boundary layer is affected by many different forces, and this study seeks to characterize the main forcing mechanisms for these variations in stability across Antarctica, annually and seasonally.
Evelyn Jäkel, Sebastian Becker, Tim R. Sperzel, Hannah Niehaus, Gunnar Spreen, Ran Tao, Marcel Nicolaus, Wolfgang Dorn, Annette Rinke, Jörg Brauchle, and Manfred Wendisch
The Cryosphere, 18, 1185–1205, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1185-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1185-2024, 2024
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The results of the surface albedo scheme of a coupled regional climate model were evaluated against airborne and ground-based measurements conducted in the European Arctic in different seasons between 2017 and 2022. We found a seasonally dependent bias between measured and modeled surface albedo for cloudless and cloudy situations. The strongest effects of the albedo model bias on the net irradiance were most apparent in the presence of optically thin clouds.
Katrin Müller, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Peter von der Gathen, Christoph Ritter, Sharon Patris, Justus Notholt, and Markus Rex
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2169–2193, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2169-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2169-2024, 2024
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The Palau Atmospheric Observatory is introduced as an ideal site to detect changes in atmospheric composition and dynamics above the remote tropical western Pacific. We focus on the ozone sounding program from 2016–2021, including El Niño 2016. The year-round high convective activity is reflected in dominant low tropospheric ozone and high relative humidity. Their seasonal distributions are unique compared to other tropical sites and are modulated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone.
Gina C. Jozef, John J. Cassano, Sandro Dahlke, Mckenzie Dice, Christopher J. Cox, and Gijs de Boer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1429–1450, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1429-2024, 2024
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Observations collected during MOSAiC were used to identify the range in vertical structure and stability of the central Arctic lower atmosphere through a self-organizing map analysis. Characteristics of wind features (such as low-level jets) and atmospheric moisture features (such as clouds) were analyzed in the context of the varying vertical structure and stability. Thus, the results of this paper give an overview of the thermodynamic and kinematic features of the central Arctic atmosphere.
Raphael Harry Köhler, Ralf Jaiser, and Dörthe Handorf
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 1071–1086, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1071-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1071-2023, 2023
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This study explores the local mechanisms of troposphere–stratosphere coupling on seasonal timescales during extended winter in the Northern Hemisphere. The detected tropospheric precursor regions exhibit very distinct mechanisms of coupling to the stratosphere, thus highlighting the importance of the time- and zonally resolved picture. Moreover, this study demonstrates that the ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic atmosphere model (ICON) can realistically reproduce troposphere–stratosphere coupling.
Mckenzie J. Dice, John J. Cassano, Gina C. Jozef, and Mark Seefeldt
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 1045–1069, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1045-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1045-2023, 2023
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This study documents boundary layer stability profiles, from the surface to 500 m above ground level, present in radiosonde observations across the Antarctic continent. A boundary layer stability definition method is developed and applied to the radiosonde observations to determine the frequency and seasonality of stability regimes. It is found that, in the continental interior, strong stability is dominant throughout most of the year, while stability is more varied at coastal locations.
Gina C. Jozef, Robert Klingel, John J. Cassano, Björn Maronga, Gijs de Boer, Sandro Dahlke, and Christopher J. Cox
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 4983–4995, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4983-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4983-2023, 2023
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Observations from the MOSAiC expedition relating to lower-atmospheric temperature, wind, stability, moisture, and surface radiation budget from radiosondes, a meteorological tower, radiation station, and ceilometer were compiled to create a dataset which describes the thermodynamic and kinematic state of the central Arctic lower atmosphere between October 2019 and September 2020. This paper describes the methods used to develop this lower-atmospheric properties dataset.
Gina C. Jozef, John J. Cassano, Sandro Dahlke, Mckenzie Dice, Christopher J. Cox, and Gijs de Boer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13087–13106, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13087-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13087-2023, 2023
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Observations from the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) were used to determine the frequency of occurrence of various central Arctic lower atmospheric stability regimes and how the stability regimes transition between each other. Wind and radiation observations were analyzed in the context of stability regime and season to reveal the relationships between Arctic atmospheric stability and mechanically and radiatively driven turbulent forcings.
Olivia Linke, Johannes Quaas, Finja Baumer, Sebastian Becker, Jan Chylik, Sandro Dahlke, André Ehrlich, Dörthe Handorf, Christoph Jacobi, Heike Kalesse-Los, Luca Lelli, Sina Mehrdad, Roel A. J. Neggers, Johannes Riebold, Pablo Saavedra Garfias, Niklas Schnierstein, Matthew D. Shupe, Chris Smith, Gunnar Spreen, Baptiste Verneuil, Kameswara S. Vinjamuri, Marco Vountas, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9963–9992, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9963-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9963-2023, 2023
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Lapse rate feedback (LRF) is a major driver of the Arctic amplification (AA) of climate change. It arises because the warming is stronger at the surface than aloft. Several processes can affect the LRF in the Arctic, such as the omnipresent temperature inversion. Here, we compare multimodel climate simulations to Arctic-based observations from a large research consortium to broaden our understanding of these processes, find synergy among them, and constrain the Arctic LRF and AA.
Melanie Lauer, Annette Rinke, Irina Gorodetskaya, Michael Sprenger, Mario Mech, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8705–8726, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023, 2023
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We present a new method to analyse the influence of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and fronts on the precipitation in the Arctic, based on two campaigns: ACLOUD (early summer 2017) and AFLUX (early spring 2019). There are differences between both campaign periods: in early summer, the precipitation is mostly related to ARs and fronts, especially when they are co-located, while in early spring, cyclones isolated from ARs and fronts contributed most to the precipitation.
Johannes Riebold, Andy Richling, Uwe Ulbrich, Henning Rust, Tido Semmler, and Dörthe Handorf
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 663–682, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-663-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-663-2023, 2023
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Arctic sea ice loss might impact the atmospheric circulation outside the Arctic and therefore extremes over mid-latitudes. Here, we analyze model experiments to initially assess the influence of sea ice loss on occurrence frequencies of large-scale circulation patterns. Some of these detected circulation changes can be linked to changes in occurrences of European temperature extremes. Compared to future global temperature increases, the sea-ice-related impacts are however of secondary relevance.
Daniel Gliksman, Paul Averbeck, Nico Becker, Barry Gardiner, Valeri Goldberg, Jens Grieger, Dörthe Handorf, Karsten Haustein, Alexia Karwat, Florian Knutzen, Hilke S. Lentink, Rike Lorenz, Deborah Niermann, Joaquim G. Pinto, Ronald Queck, Astrid Ziemann, and Christian L. E. Franzke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2171–2201, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2171-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2171-2023, 2023
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Wind and storms are a major natural hazard and can cause severe economic damage and cost human lives. Hence, it is important to gauge the potential impact of using indices, which potentially enable us to estimate likely impacts of storms or other wind events. Here, we review basic aspects of wind and storm generation and provide an extensive overview of wind impacts and available indices. This is also important to better prepare for future climate change and corresponding changes to winds.
Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Robbie Mallett, Julienne Stroeve, Torsten Geldsetzer, Randall Scharien, Rasmus Tonboe, John Yackel, Jack Landy, David Clemens-Sewall, Arttu Jutila, David N. Wagner, Daniela Krampe, Marcus Huntemann, Mallik Mahmud, David Jensen, Thomas Newman, Stefan Hendricks, Gunnar Spreen, Amy Macfarlane, Martin Schneebeli, James Mead, Robert Ricker, Michael Gallagher, Claude Duguay, Ian Raphael, Chris Polashenski, Michel Tsamados, Ilkka Matero, and Mario Hoppmann
The Cryosphere, 17, 2211–2229, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023, 2023
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We show that wind redistributes snow on Arctic sea ice, and Ka- and Ku-band radar measurements detect both newly deposited snow and buried snow layers that can affect the accuracy of snow depth estimates on sea ice. Radar, laser, meteorological, and snow data were collected during the MOSAiC expedition. With frequent occurrence of storms in the Arctic, our results show that
wind-redistributed snow needs to be accounted for to improve snow depth estimates on sea ice from satellite radars.
Efi Rousi, Andreas H. Fink, Lauren S. Andersen, Florian N. Becker, Goratz Beobide-Arsuaga, Marcus Breil, Giacomo Cozzi, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Deborah Niermann, Dragan Petrovic, Andy Richling, Johannes Riebold, Stella Steidl, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Dim Coumou, André Düsterhus, Florian Ellsäßer, Georgios Fragkoulidis, Daniel Gliksman, Dörthe Handorf, Karsten Haustein, Kai Kornhuber, Harald Kunstmann, Joaquim G. Pinto, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Elena Xoplaki
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1699–1718, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1699-2023, 2023
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The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive, multi-faceted analysis of the 2018 extreme summer in terms of heat and drought in central and northern Europe, with a particular focus on Germany. A combination of favorable large-scale conditions and locally dry soils were related with the intensity and persistence of the events. We also showed that such extremes have become more likely due to anthropogenic climate change and might occur almost every year under +2 °C of global warming.
Ulrike Egerer, John J. Cassano, Matthew D. Shupe, Gijs de Boer, Dale Lawrence, Abhiram Doddi, Holger Siebert, Gina Jozef, Radiance Calmer, Jonathan Hamilton, Christian Pilz, and Michael Lonardi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2297–2317, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2297-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2297-2023, 2023
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This paper describes how measurements from a small uncrewed aircraft system can be used to estimate the vertical turbulent heat energy exchange between different layers in the atmosphere. This is particularly important for the atmosphere in the Arctic, as turbulent exchange in this region is often suppressed but is still important to understand how the atmosphere interacts with sea ice. We present three case studies from the MOSAiC field campaign in Arctic sea ice in 2020.
Karina von Schuckmann, Audrey Minière, Flora Gues, Francisco José Cuesta-Valero, Gottfried Kirchengast, Susheel Adusumilli, Fiammetta Straneo, Michaël Ablain, Richard P. Allan, Paul M. Barker, Hugo Beltrami, Alejandro Blazquez, Tim Boyer, Lijing Cheng, John Church, Damien Desbruyeres, Han Dolman, Catia M. Domingues, Almudena García-García, Donata Giglio, John E. Gilson, Maximilian Gorfer, Leopold Haimberger, Maria Z. Hakuba, Stefan Hendricks, Shigeki Hosoda, Gregory C. Johnson, Rachel Killick, Brian King, Nicolas Kolodziejczyk, Anton Korosov, Gerhard Krinner, Mikael Kuusela, Felix W. Landerer, Moritz Langer, Thomas Lavergne, Isobel Lawrence, Yuehua Li, John Lyman, Florence Marti, Ben Marzeion, Michael Mayer, Andrew H. MacDougall, Trevor McDougall, Didier Paolo Monselesan, Jan Nitzbon, Inès Otosaka, Jian Peng, Sarah Purkey, Dean Roemmich, Kanako Sato, Katsunari Sato, Abhishek Savita, Axel Schweiger, Andrew Shepherd, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Leon Simons, Donald A. Slater, Thomas Slater, Andrea K. Steiner, Toshio Suga, Tanguy Szekely, Wim Thiery, Mary-Louise Timmermans, Inne Vanderkelen, Susan E. Wjiffels, Tonghua Wu, and Michael Zemp
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1675–1709, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023, 2023
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Earth's climate is out of energy balance, and this study quantifies how much heat has consequently accumulated over the past decades (ocean: 89 %, land: 6 %, cryosphere: 4 %, atmosphere: 1 %). Since 1971, this accumulated heat reached record values at an increasing pace. The Earth heat inventory provides a comprehensive view on the status and expectation of global warming, and we call for an implementation of this global climate indicator into the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake.
Robert Ricker, Steven Fons, Arttu Jutila, Nils Hutter, Kyle Duncan, Sinead L. Farrell, Nathan T. Kurtz, and Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen
The Cryosphere, 17, 1411–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, 2023
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Information on sea ice surface topography is important for studies of sea ice as well as for ship navigation through ice. The ICESat-2 satellite senses the sea ice surface with six laser beams. To examine the accuracy of these measurements, we carried out a temporally coincident helicopter flight along the same ground track as the satellite and measured the sea ice surface topography with a laser scanner. This showed that ICESat-2 can see even bumps of only few meters in the sea ice cover.
Felix L. Müller, Stephan Paul, Stefan Hendricks, and Denise Dettmering
The Cryosphere, 17, 809–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-809-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-809-2023, 2023
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Thinning sea ice has significant impacts on the energy exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. In this study we present visual and quantitative comparisons of thin-ice detections obtained from classified Cryosat-2 radar reflections and thin-ice-thickness estimates derived from MODIS thermal-infrared imagery. In addition to good comparability, the results of the study indicate the potential for a deeper understanding of sea ice in the polar seas and improved processing of altimeter data.
Elina Valkonen, John Cassano, Elizabeth Cassano, and Mark Seefeldt
Weather Clim. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2023-2, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2023-2, 2023
Publication in WCD not foreseen
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Arctic sea ice is melting fast. This rapid change in the Arctic climate system can also affect the storms in the region. The strong connection between Arctic storms and sea ice makes it an important research subject in warming climate. In this study we compared the results of multiple climate models and ERA5 reanalysis data to each other, with a focus on Arctic storms and declining sea ice.
Guillaume Boutin, Einar Ólason, Pierre Rampal, Heather Regan, Camille Lique, Claude Talandier, Laurent Brodeau, and Robert Ricker
The Cryosphere, 17, 617–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, 2023
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Sea ice cover in the Arctic is full of cracks, which we call leads. We suspect that these leads play a role for atmosphere–ocean interactions in polar regions, but their importance remains challenging to estimate. We use a new ocean–sea ice model with an original way of representing sea ice dynamics to estimate their impact on winter sea ice production. This model successfully represents sea ice evolution from 2000 to 2018, and we find that about 30 % of ice production takes place in leads.
Younjoo J. Lee, Wieslaw Maslowski, John J. Cassano, Jaclyn Clement Kinney, Anthony P. Craig, Samy Kamal, Robert Osinski, Mark W. Seefeldt, Julienne Stroeve, and Hailong Wang
The Cryosphere, 17, 233–253, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-233-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-233-2023, 2023
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During 1979–2020, four winter polynyas occurred in December 1986 and February 2011, 2017, and 2018 north of Greenland. Instead of ice melting due to the anomalous warm air intrusion, the extreme wind forcing resulted in greater ice transport offshore. Based on the two ensemble runs, representing a 1980s thicker ice vs. a 2010s thinner ice, a dominant cause of these winter polynyas stems from internal variability of atmospheric forcing rather than from the forced response to a warming climate.
Francesca Doglioni, Robert Ricker, Benjamin Rabe, Alexander Barth, Charles Troupin, and Torsten Kanzow
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 225–263, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-225-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-225-2023, 2023
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This paper presents a new satellite-derived gridded dataset, including 10 years of sea surface height and geostrophic velocity at monthly resolution, over the Arctic ice-covered and ice-free regions, up to 88° N. We assess the dataset by comparison to independent satellite and mooring data. Results correlate well with independent satellite data at monthly timescales, and the geostrophic velocity fields can resolve seasonal to interannual variability of boundary currents wider than about 50 km.
Julian Gutt, Stefanie Arndt, David Keith Alan Barnes, Horst Bornemann, Thomas Brey, Olaf Eisen, Hauke Flores, Huw Griffiths, Christian Haas, Stefan Hain, Tore Hattermann, Christoph Held, Mario Hoppema, Enrique Isla, Markus Janout, Céline Le Bohec, Heike Link, Felix Christopher Mark, Sebastien Moreau, Scarlett Trimborn, Ilse van Opzeeland, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Fokje Schaafsma, Katharina Teschke, Sandra Tippenhauer, Anton Van de Putte, Mia Wege, Daniel Zitterbart, and Dieter Piepenburg
Biogeosciences, 19, 5313–5342, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5313-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5313-2022, 2022
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Long-term ecological observations are key to assess, understand and predict impacts of environmental change on biotas. We present a multidisciplinary framework for such largely lacking investigations in the East Antarctic Southern Ocean, combined with case studies, experimental and modelling work. As climate change is still minor here but is projected to start soon, the timely implementation of this framework provides the unique opportunity to document its ecological impacts from the very onset.
Jinfei Wang, Chao Min, Robert Ricker, Qian Shi, Bo Han, Stefan Hendricks, Renhao Wu, and Qinghua Yang
The Cryosphere, 16, 4473–4490, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4473-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4473-2022, 2022
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The differences between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness (SIT) reveal significant temporal and spatial variations. Our findings suggest that both overestimation of Envisat sea ice freeboard, potentially caused by radar backscatter originating from inside the snow layer, and the AMSR-E snow depth biases and sea ice density uncertainties can possibly account for the differences between Envisat and ICESat SIT.
Julienne Stroeve, Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Ruzica Dadic, Philip Rostosky, Michael Gallagher, Robbie Mallett, Andrew Barrett, Stefan Hendricks, Rasmus Tonboe, Michelle McCrystall, Mark Serreze, Linda Thielke, Gunnar Spreen, Thomas Newman, John Yackel, Robert Ricker, Michel Tsamados, Amy Macfarlane, Henna-Reetta Hannula, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 16, 4223–4250, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022, 2022
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Impacts of rain on snow (ROS) on satellite-retrieved sea ice variables remain to be fully understood. This study evaluates the impacts of ROS over sea ice on active and passive microwave data collected during the 2019–20 MOSAiC expedition. Rainfall and subsequent refreezing of the snowpack significantly altered emitted and backscattered radar energy, laying important groundwork for understanding their impacts on operational satellite retrievals of various sea ice geophysical variables.
Jan Streffing, Dmitry Sidorenko, Tido Semmler, Lorenzo Zampieri, Patrick Scholz, Miguel Andrés-Martínez, Nikolay Koldunov, Thomas Rackow, Joakim Kjellsson, Helge Goessling, Marylou Athanase, Qiang Wang, Jan Hegewald, Dmitry V. Sein, Longjiang Mu, Uwe Fladrich, Dirk Barbi, Paul Gierz, Sergey Danilov, Stephan Juricke, Gerrit Lohmann, and Thomas Jung
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 6399–6427, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6399-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6399-2022, 2022
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We developed a new atmosphere–ocean coupled climate model, AWI-CM3. Our model is significantly more computationally efficient than its predecessors AWI-CM1 and AWI-CM2. We show that the model, although cheaper to run, provides results of similar quality when modeling the historic period from 1850 to 2014. We identify the remaining weaknesses to outline future work. Finally we preview an improved simulation where the reduction in computational cost has to be invested in higher model resolution.
Simon Felix Reifenberg and Helge Friedrich Goessling
The Cryosphere, 16, 2927–2946, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2927-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2927-2022, 2022
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Using model simulations, we analyze the impact of chaotic error growth on Arctic sea ice drift predictions. Regarding forecast uncertainty, our results suggest that it matters in which season and where ice drift forecasts are initialized and that both factors vary with the model in use. We find ice velocities to be slightly more predictable than near-surface wind, a main driver of ice drift. This is relevant for future developments of ice drift forecasting systems.
Gina Jozef, John Cassano, Sandro Dahlke, and Gijs de Boer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4001–4022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4001-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4001-2022, 2022
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During the MOSAiC expedition, meteorological conditions over the lowest 1 km of the atmosphere were sampled with the DataHawk2 uncrewed aircraft system. These data were used to identify the best method for atmospheric boundary layer height detection by comparing visually identified subjective boundary layer height to that identified by several objective automated detection methods. The results show a bulk Richardson number-based approach gives the best estimate of boundary layer height.
David N. Wagner, Matthew D. Shupe, Christopher Cox, Ola G. Persson, Taneil Uttal, Markus M. Frey, Amélie Kirchgaessner, Martin Schneebeli, Matthias Jaggi, Amy R. Macfarlane, Polona Itkin, Stefanie Arndt, Stefan Hendricks, Daniela Krampe, Marcel Nicolaus, Robert Ricker, Julia Regnery, Nikolai Kolabutin, Egor Shimanshuck, Marc Oggier, Ian Raphael, Julienne Stroeve, and Michael Lehning
The Cryosphere, 16, 2373–2402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, 2022
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Based on measurements of the snow cover over sea ice and atmospheric measurements, we estimate snowfall and snow accumulation for the MOSAiC ice floe, between November 2019 and May 2020. For this period, we estimate 98–114 mm of precipitation. We suggest that about 34 mm of snow water equivalent accumulated until the end of April 2020 and that at least about 50 % of the precipitated snow was eroded or sublimated. Further, we suggest explanations for potential snowfall overestimation.
Annakaisa von Lerber, Mario Mech, Annette Rinke, Damao Zhang, Melanie Lauer, Ana Radovan, Irina Gorodetskaya, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7287–7317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7287-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7287-2022, 2022
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Snowfall is an important climate indicator. However, microphysical snowfall processes are challenging for atmospheric models. In this study, the performance of a regional climate model is evaluated in modeling the spatial and temporal distribution of Arctic snowfall when compared to CloudSat satellite observations. Excellent agreement in averaged annual snowfall rates is found, and the shown methodology offers a promising diagnostic tool to investigate the shown differences further.
Milena Veneziani, Wieslaw Maslowski, Younjoo J. Lee, Gennaro D'Angelo, Robert Osinski, Mark R. Petersen, Wilbert Weijer, Anthony P. Craig, John D. Wolfe, Darin Comeau, and Adrian K. Turner
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 3133–3160, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3133-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3133-2022, 2022
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We present an Earth system model (ESM) simulation, E3SM-Arctic-OSI, with a refined grid to better resolve the Arctic ocean and sea-ice system and low spatial resolution elsewhere. The configuration satisfactorily represents many aspects of the Arctic system and its interactions with the sub-Arctic, while keeping computational costs at a fraction of those necessary for global high-resolution ESMs. E3SM-Arctic can thus be an efficient tool to study Arctic processes on climate-relevant timescales.
Arttu Jutila, Stefan Hendricks, Robert Ricker, Luisa von Albedyll, Thomas Krumpen, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 16, 259–275, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-259-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-259-2022, 2022
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Sea-ice thickness retrieval from satellite altimeters relies on assumed sea-ice density values because density cannot be measured from space. We derived bulk densities for different ice types using airborne laser, radar, and electromagnetic induction sounding measurements. Compared to previous studies, we found high bulk density values due to ice deformation and younger ice cover. Using sea-ice freeboard, we derived a sea-ice bulk density parameterisation that can be applied to satellite data.
Carolina Viceto, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Annette Rinke, Marion Maturilli, Alfredo Rocha, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 441–463, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-441-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-441-2022, 2022
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We focus on anomalous moisture transport events known as atmospheric rivers (ARs). During ACLOUD and PASCAL, three AR events were identified: 30 May, 6 June, and 9 June 2017. We explore their spatio-temporal evolution and precipitation patterns using measurements, reanalyses, and a model. We show the importance of the following: Atlantic and Siberian pathways during spring–summer in the Arctic, AR-associated heat/moisture increase, precipitation phase transition, and high-resolution datasets.
Hélène Bresson, Annette Rinke, Mario Mech, Daniel Reinert, Vera Schemann, Kerstin Ebell, Marion Maturilli, Carolina Viceto, Irina Gorodetskaya, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 173–196, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-173-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-173-2022, 2022
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Arctic warming is pronounced, and one factor in this is the poleward atmospheric transport of heat and moisture. This study assesses the 4D structure of an Arctic moisture intrusion event which occurred in June 2017. For the first time, high-resolution pan-Arctic ICON simulations are performed and compared with global models, reanalysis, and observations. Results show the added value of high resolution in the event representation and the impact of the intrusion on the surface energy fluxes.
Jaclyn Clement Kinney, Karen M. Assmann, Wieslaw Maslowski, Göran Björk, Martin Jakobsson, Sara Jutterström, Younjoo J. Lee, Robert Osinski, Igor Semiletov, Adam Ulfsbo, Irene Wåhlström, and Leif G. Anderson
Ocean Sci., 18, 29–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-29-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-29-2022, 2022
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We use data crossing Herald Canyon in the Chukchi Sea collected in 2008 and 2014 together with numerical modelling to investigate the circulation in the western Chukchi Sea. A large fraction of water from the Chukchi Sea enters the East Siberian Sea south of Wrangel Island and circulates in an anticyclonic direction around the island. To assess the differences between years, we use numerical modelling results, which show that high-frequency variability dominates the flow in Herald Canyon.
Nele Lamping, Juliane Müller, Jens Hefter, Gesine Mollenhauer, Christian Haas, Xiaoxu Shi, Maria-Elena Vorrath, Gerrit Lohmann, and Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Clim. Past, 17, 2305–2326, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2305-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2305-2021, 2021
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We analysed biomarker concentrations on surface sediment samples from the Antarctic continental margin. Highly branched isoprenoids and GDGTs are used for reconstructing recent sea-ice distribution patterns and ocean temperatures respectively. We compared our biomarker-based results with data obtained from satellite observations and estimated from a numerical model and find reasonable agreements. Further, we address caveats and provide recommendations for future investigations.
Stefanie Arndt, Christian Haas, Hanno Meyer, Ilka Peeken, and Thomas Krumpen
The Cryosphere, 15, 4165–4178, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4165-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4165-2021, 2021
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We present here snow and ice core data from the northwestern Weddell Sea in late austral summer 2019, which allow insights into possible reasons for the recent low summer sea ice extent in the Weddell Sea. We suggest that the fraction of superimposed ice and snow ice can be used here as a sensitive indicator. However, snow and ice properties were not exceptional, suggesting that the summer surface energy balance and related seasonal transition of snow properties have changed little in the past.
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Sea ice thickness anomalies during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) winter in January, February and March 2020 were simulated with the coupled Regional Arctic climate System Model (RASM) and compared with CryoSat-2/SMOS satellite data. Hindcast and ensemble simulations indicate that the sea ice anomalies are driven by nonlinear interactions between ice growth processes and wind-driven sea-ice transports, with dynamics playing a dominant role.
Sea ice thickness anomalies during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the...
