Synoptic-scale ice-motion case-studies using assimilated motion fields

Abstract Observed and modeled sea-ice motions, combined via an optimal-interpolation assimilation method, are used to study two synoptic events in the Arctic. The first is a convergence event along the north Alaska coast in the Beaufort Sea during November 1992. Assimilation indicates stronger convergence than the stand-alone model, in agreement with Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-derived ice motions and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager-derived ice concentrations. The second event pertains to ice formation and advection in Fram Strait and the Barents and Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian Seas. Assimilation indicates export of thick, less saline ice out of the central Arctic into the East Greenland Sea. However, the model indicates little flow through Fram Strait, instead showing strong flow of thin, more saline first-year ice from the Barents Sea westward into the Greenland Sea. These results indicate that assimilation is a useful tool for investigating synoptic events in the Arctic and may be useful for both climate studies and operational analyses

[1]  Charles Fowler,et al.  Error analysis and assimilation of remotely sensed ice motion within an Arctic sea ice model , 2000 .

[2]  Hugues Goosse,et al.  Importance of ice-ocean interactions for the global ocean circulation: A model study , 1999 .

[3]  Michael Steele,et al.  Retreat of the cold halocline layer in the Arctic Ocean , 1998 .

[4]  Ron Kwok,et al.  Sea ice motion from satellite passive microwave imagery assessed with ERS SAR and buoy motions , 1998 .

[5]  D. Ullman,et al.  Model parameter estimation from data assimilation modeling: Temporal and spatial variability of the bottom drag coefficient , 1998 .

[6]  Peter Lemke,et al.  Simulation of sea ice transport through Fram Strait: Natural variability and sensitivity to forcing , 1998 .

[7]  William J. Emery,et al.  Satellite‐derived maps of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice motion: 1988 to 1994 , 1997 .

[8]  D. Rothrock,et al.  Assimilating satellite concentration data into an Arctic sea ice mass balance model, 1979–1985 , 1996 .

[9]  Lakshmi Kantha,et al.  Barotropic tides in the global oceans from a nonlinear tidal model assimilating altimetric tides: 1. Model description and results , 1995 .

[10]  Ronald Kwok,et al.  Determination of the age distribution of sea ice from lagrangian observations of ice motion , 1995, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[11]  D. R. Thomas,et al.  The Arctic Ocean ice balance - A Kalman smoother estimate , 1993 .

[12]  J. Curry,et al.  An intermediate one‐dimensional thermodynamic sea ice model for investigating ice‐atmosphere interactions , 1993 .

[13]  William J. Emery,et al.  Fram Strait satellite image‐derived ice motions , 1991 .

[14]  John E. Walsh,et al.  Multiyear sea ice in the Arctic: Model‐ and satellite‐derived , 1990 .

[15]  D. R. Thomas,et al.  Blending sequential scanning multichannel microwave radiometer and buoy data into a sea ice model , 1989 .

[16]  William J. Emery,et al.  Automated extraction of pack ice motion from advanced very high resolution radiometer imagery , 1986 .

[17]  R. Colony,et al.  An estimate of the mean field of Arctic sea ice motion , 1984 .

[18]  R. Colony,et al.  Sea ice motion in response to geostrophic winds , 1982 .

[19]  E. Carmack,et al.  On the halocline of the Arctic Ocean , 1981 .

[20]  W. Hibler.  A Dynamic Thermodynamic Sea Ice Model , 1979 .

[21]  J. Charney,et al.  Use of Incomplete Historical Data to Infer the Present State of the Atmosphere , 1969 .

[22]  William J. Emery,et al.  A comparison of East Antarctic sea-ice motion derived using drifting buoys and remote sensing , 2001, Annals of Glaciology.

[23]  Donald J. Cavalieri,et al.  On sea ice drift from the wavelet analysis of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) data , 1998 .

[24]  J. Maslanik,et al.  On the role of sea-ice transport in modifying Arctic responses to global climate change , 1997, Annals of Glaciology.

[25]  T. Hirose,et al.  Estimation of large-scale sea-ice motion from SSM/I 85.5 GHz imagery , 1997, Annals of Glaciology.

[26]  M. Ghil,et al.  Data assimilation in meteorology and oceanography , 1991 .

[27]  Ross M. McConnell,et al.  An ice-motion tracking system at the Alaska SAR facility , 1990 .