Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

NSIDC Cryosphere Seminar

Wednesday February 5 2020 @ 11:00 am
to 12:00 pm

February

5

Wed

2020

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Availability

Open to Public

Audience
  • CIRES employees
  • CU Boulder employees
  • General Public
  • NOAA employees
  • Science collaborators
  • Bering Strait Oceanic Volume and Heat Transports and Links to Atmospheric Circulation, Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Conditions by Dr. Mark Serreze
    The Arctic’s Chukchi Sea is a focus of resource exploration, and all vessels transiting the Arctic Ocean must pass through it.   However, operations in this area are strongly influenced by variability in sea ice conditions.  Our recent work shows that the Bering Strait oceanic heat inflow is a key predictor of seasonal sea ice retreat and advance dates in the Chukchi Sea.  But what are the divers of this variability?  This inflow represents an interplay between water temperature in the strait and factors controlling the volume transport, namely, local winds in the strait and a pressure head difference between the Pacific and Arctic.  Variability in the pressure head difference, especially during summer, relates to the strength of the zonal (west to east) wind in the East Siberian Sea that raises or drops sea surface height in this area.  Variability in the zonal wind in the East Siberian Sea during summer relates to a tendency for winds over the Arctic Ocean to vary between clockwise and anticlockwise, linking the Bering Strait transports to processes influencing September sea ice extent for the Arctic Ocean as a whole.  Some of the most recent large heat transports are associated with high water temperatures, consistent with recent persistence of open water in the Chukchi Sea into winter and early ice retreat in spring.  The highest inflow recorded, for October 2016, resulted from high water temperatures in the strait and ideal wind conditions yielding a record-high volume transport.
    Mark Serreze, Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center and Professor of Geography at the University of Colorado Boulder, has published widely on issues of Arctic environmental change and has played a prominent role in science communication. His widely acclaimed popular science book, “Brave New Arctic”, was published in April 2018.  https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JC015422