scholarly journals Sea surface height anomalies of the Arctic Ocean from ICESat‐2: a first examination and comparisons with CryoSat‐2

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bagnardi ◽  
N. Kurtz ◽  
A. A. Petty ◽  
R. Kwok
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Surface Height ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

scholarly journals Simulated Interannual Variations of Freshwater Content and Sea Surface Height in the Beaufort Sea*

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1079-1095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Long ◽  
W. Perrie ◽  
C. L. Tang ◽  
E. Dunlap ◽  
J. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Sea Surface Height ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Interannual Variations ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Abstract The authors investigate the interannual variations of freshwater content (FWC) and sea surface height (SSH) in the Beaufort Sea, particularly their increases during 2004–09, using a coupled ice–ocean model (CIOM), adapted for the Arctic Ocean to simulate the interannual variations. The CIOM simulation exhibits a (relative) salinity minimum in the Beaufort Sea and a warm Atlantic water layer in the Arctic Ocean, which is similar to the Polar Hydrographic Climatology (PHC), and captures the observed FWC maximum in the central Beaufort Sea, and the observed variation and rapid decline of total ice concentration, over the last 30 years. The model simulations of SSH and FWC suggest a significant increase in the central Beaufort Sea during 2004–09. The simulated SSH increase is about 8 cm, while the FWC increase is about 2.5 m, with most of these increases occurring in the center of the Beaufort gyre. The authors show that these increases are due to an increased surface wind stress curl during 2004–09, which increased the FWC in the Beaufort Sea by about 0.63 m yr−1 through Ekman pumping. Moreover, the increased surface wind is related to the interannual variation of the Arctic polar vortex at 500 hPa. During 2004–09, the polar vortex had significant weakness, which enhanced the Beaufort Sea high by affecting the frequency of synoptic weather systems in the region. In addition to the impacts of the polar vortex, enhanced melting of sea ice also contributes to the FWC increase by about 0.3 m yr−1 during 2004–09.

scholarly journals Using Saildrones to Validate Arctic Sea-Surface Salinity from the SMAP Satellite and from Ocean Models

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 831
Author(s):  
Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo ◽  
Chelle Gentemann ◽  
Wenqing Tang ◽  
Dustin Carroll ◽  
Hong Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Yukon River ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is one of the most important and challenging regions to observe—it experiences the largest changes from climate warming, and at the same time is one of the most difficult to sample because of sea ice and extreme cold temperatures. Two NASA-sponsored deployments of the Saildrone vehicle provided a unique opportunity for validating sea-surface salinity (SSS) derived from three separate products that use data from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. To examine possible issues in resolving mesoscale-to-submesoscale variability, comparisons were also made with two versions of the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) model (Carroll, D; Menmenlis, D; Zhang, H.). The results indicate that the three SMAP products resolve the runoff signal associated with the Yukon River, with high correlation between SMAP products and Saildrone SSS. Spectral slopes, overall, replicate the −2.0 slopes associated with mesoscale-submesoscale variability. Statistically significant spatial coherences exist for all products, with peaks close to 100 km. Based on these encouraging results, future research should focus on improving derivations of satellite-derived SSS in the Arctic Ocean and integrating model results to complement remote sensing observations.

scholarly journals Intercomparison of Salinity Products in the Beaufort Gyre and Arctic Ocean

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Sarah B. Hall ◽  
Bulusu Subrahmanyam ◽  
James H. Morison
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Beaufort Gyre ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Salinity is the primary determinant of the Arctic Ocean’s density structure. Freshwater accumulation and distribution in the Arctic Ocean have varied significantly in recent decades and certainly in the Beaufort Gyre (BG). In this study, we analyze salinity variations in the BG region between 2012 and 2017. We use in situ salinity observations from the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys (SIZRS), CTD casts from the Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGP), and the EN4 data to validate and compare with satellite observations from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), and Aquarius Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity (OISSS), and Arctic Ocean models: ECCO, MIZMAS, HYCOM, ORAS5, and GLORYS12. Overall, satellite observations are restricted to ice-free regions in the BG area, and models tend to overestimate sea surface salinity (SSS). Freshwater Content (FWC), an important component of the BG, is computed for EN4 and most models. ORAS5 provides the strongest positive SSS correlation coefficient (0.612) and lowest bias to in situ observations compared to the other products. ORAS5 subsurface salinity and FWC compare well with the EN4 data. Discrepancies between models and SIZRS data are highest in GLORYS12 and ECCO. These comparisons identify dissimilarities between salinity products and extend challenges to observations applicable to other areas of the Arctic Ocean.

scholarly journals Using Remotely Sensed Sea Surface Salinity and Colored Detrital Matter to Characterize Freshened Surface Layers in the Kara and Laptev Seas during the Ice-Free Season

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3828
Author(s):  
Marta Umbert ◽  
Carolina Gabarro ◽  
Estrella Olmedo ◽  
Rafael Gonçalves-Araujo ◽  
Sebastien Guimbard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
River Runoff ◽  
River Discharge ◽  
Active Material ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

The overall volume of freshwater entering the Arctic Ocean has been growing as glaciers melt and river runoff increases. Since 1980, a 20% increase in river runoff has been observed in the Arctic system. As the discharges of the Ob, Yenisei, and Lena rivers are an important source of freshwater in the Kara and Laptev Seas, an increase in river discharge might have a significant impact on the upper ocean circulation. The fresh river water mixes with ocean water and forms a large freshened surface layer (FSL), which carries high loads of dissolved organic matter and suspended matter into the Arctic Ocean. Optically active material (e.g., phytoplankton and detrital matter) are spread out into plumes, which are evident in satellite data. Russian river signatures in the Kara and Laptev Seas are also evident in recent SMOS Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) Arctic products. In this study, we compare the new Arctic+ SSS products, produced at the Barcelona Expert Center, with the Ocean Color absorption coefficient of colored detrital matter (CDM) in the Kara and Laptev Seas for the period 2011–2019. The SSS and CDM are found to be strongly negatively correlated in the regions of freshwater influence, with regression coefficients between −0.72 and −0.91 in the studied period. Exploiting this linear correlation, we estimate the SSS back to 1998 using two techniques: one assuming that the relationship between the CDM and SSS varies regionally in the river-influenced areas, and another assuming that it does not. We use the 22-year time-series of reconstructed SSS to estimate the interannual variability of the extension of the FSL in the Kara and Laptev Seas as well as their freshwater content. For the Kara and Laptev Seas, we use 32 and 28 psu as reference salinities, and 26 and 24 psu isohalines as FSL boundaries, respectively. The average FSL extension in the Kara Sea is 2089–2611 km2, with a typical freshwater content of 11.84–14.02 km3. The Laptev Sea has a slightly higher mean FSL extension of 2320–2686 km2 and a freshwater content of 10.15–12.44 km3. The yearly mean freshwater content and extension of the FSL, computed from SMOS SSS and Optical data, is (as expected) found to co-vary with in situ measurements of river discharge from the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory database, demonstrating the potential of SMOS SSS to better monitor the river discharge changes in Eurasia and to understand the Arctic freshwater system during the ice-free season.

scholarly journals New insights into SMOS sea surface salinity retrievals in the Arctic Ocean

2020 ◽  
Vol 249 ◽  
pp. 112027
Author(s):  
Alexandre Supply ◽  
Jacqueline Boutin ◽  
Jean-Luc Vergely ◽  
Nicolas Kolodziejczyk ◽  
Gilles Reverdin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
The Arctic Ocean
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