The effect of snow on Antarctic sea ice simulations in a coupled atmosphere-sea ice model

 The effect of a snow cover on sea ice accretion and ablation is estimated based on the ‘zero-layer’ version sea ice model of Semtner, and is examined using a coupled atmosphere-sea ice model including feedbacks and ice dynamics effects. When snow is disregarded in the coupled model the averaged Antarctic sea ice becomes thicker. When only half of the snowfall predicted by the atmospheric model is allowed to land on the ice surface sea ice gets thicker in most of the Weddell and Ross Seas but thinner in East Antarctic in winter, with the average slightly thicker. When twice as much snowfall as predicted by the atmospheric model is assumed to land on the ice surface sea ice also gets much thicker due to the large increase of snow-ice formation. These results indicate the importance of the correct simulation of the snow cover over sea ice and snow-ice formation in the Antarctic. Our results also illustrate the complex feedback effects of the snow cover in global climate models. In this study we have also tested the use of a mean value of 0.16 Wm^-1 K^-1 instead of 0.31 for the thermal conductivity of snow in the coupled model, based on the most recent observations in the eastern Antarctic and Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas, and have found that the sea ice distribution changes greatly, with the ice becoming much thinner by about 0.2 m in the Antarctic and about 0.4 m in the Arctic on average. This implies that the magnitude of the thermal conductivity of snow is of considerable importance for the simulation of the sea ice distribution. An appropriate value of the thermal conductivity of snow is as crucial as the depth of the snow layer and the snowfall rate in a sea ice model. The coupled climate models require accurate values of the effective thermal conductivity of snow from observations for validating the simulated sea ice distribution under the present climate conditions. Received: 20 November 1997/Accepted: 27 July 1998     

Influence of Antarctic ice sheet lowering on the Southern Hemisphere climate: modeling experiments mimicking the mid-Miocene

A coupled global atmosphere-ocean model is used to study the influence of the Antarctica ice sheet in a configuration that mimics that of the early Miocene on the atmospheric and oceanic circulations. Based on different climate simulations of the present day (CTR) and conducted with distinct Antarctic ice sheet topography (AIS-EXP), it is found that the reduction of the Antarctic ice sheet topography (AIS) induces warming of the Southern Hemisphere and reduces the meridional thermal gradient. Consequently, the atmospheric transient low level eddy heat flux $[(\overline{v^{\prime}T^{\prime}})]$ and the eddy momentum flux $[(\overline{u^{\prime}v^{\prime}})]$ are reduced causing the reduced transport of heat from the mid-latitudes to the pole. The stationary flow and transient wave anomalies generate changes in the SSTs which modify the rate of deep water formation, strengthening the formation of the Antarctic Bottom Water. Substantial changes are predicted to occur in the atmospheric and oceanic heat transport and a comparison between the total heat transport of the atmosphere-ocean system, as simulated by the AIS-EXP and the CTR runs, shows that the reduction of the AIS height leads to reduced Southern Hemisphere poleward and increased equatorward heat transport. These results are in agreement with reduced storm track activities and baroclinicity.     

大气河对南极冰盖及海冰的影响

南极冰盖与海冰对全球气候具有重要影响。大气河作为高纬度地区经向水汽输送的重要途径,其对南极冰盖与海冰的影响在近年来愈发受到重视。南极大气河通常形成于高压脊(阻塞高压)与温带气旋之间的强向极经向输送带内。低频的大气河活动为南极带来强降雪,有利于冰盖质量增加。然而,强暖湿水汽侵入同时会导致表面融化、冰架崩解和极端高温,对冰盖质量存在潜在负贡献。大气河携带极端暖湿水汽与强风通过热力与动力过程导致海冰密集度下降。目前,大气河的识别算法仍不完善,其对液态降水的直接影响、与南大洋的相互作用等仍不清楚,需要进一步明晰大气河对南极冰盖与海冰的影响机制,以准确预估未来大气河对南极冰盖物质平衡与海冰变化的作用。     

Regional variability of Antarctic sea ice extent

Interannual and seasonal variability of regional distribution of Antarctic sea ice extent is studied using monthly mean data on sea ice concentration in 1970-2012. The correlation is estimated between the variations in the area of floating ice in West and East Antarctica as well as in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean and the indices of atmospheric circuiation in the Southern Hemisphere.     

Fluctuations of snow accumulation in the Antarctic and sea level pressure in the Southern Hemisphere in the last 100 years

This paper summarizes the long-term fluctuations of snow accumulation in the Antarctic and analyzes its correlation with the sea level pressure (SLP) in the middle latitude (40°–50° S) of the Southern Hemisphere. Stratigraphic data which were compiled from studies on ice cores and snow-pits at eight stations in the Antarctic were used in the present study. It was found that the data concerning fluctuations in snow accumulation for East Antarctica showed correlations, whereas no such correlation was observed for the data from West Antarctica.This study shows possible relationships between snow accumulation in the Antarctic and SLP in the middle latitudes. The fluctuations of accumulation at South Pole, Dome C, Wilkes and South Ice Point show correlations with SLP over a large area in the 40°–50° S latitudinal zone. For the long-term fluctuations of SLP in the 40°–50 ° S latitudinal zone, a zonal fluctuation with wave number zero structure and a longitudinal variation of SLP anomalies due to their out-of-phase-fluctuation between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans were observed. The temporal scales for these fluctuations were found to be in the order of 20–30 years and 40–60 years, respectively. The influences of these two modes on the behaviour of snow accumulation in the Antarctic is also discussed.Now at Kitami Institute of Technology, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan.     

Consistent past half-century trends in the atmosphere, the sea ice and the ocean at high southern latitudes

Simulations performed with the climate model LOVECLIM, aided with a simple data assimilation technique that forces a close matching of simulated and observed surface temperature variations, are able to reasonably reproduce the observed changes in the lower atmosphere, sea ice and ocean during the second half of the twentieth century. Although the simulated ice area slightly increases over the period 1980–2000, in agreement with observations, it decreases by 0.5 × 10⁶ km² between early 1960s and early 1980s. No direct and reliable sea ice observations are available to firmly confirm this simulated decrease, but it is consistent with the data used to constrain model evolution as well as with additional independent data in both the atmosphere and the ocean. The simulated reduction of the ice area between the early 1960s and early 1980s is similar to the one simulated over that period as a response to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere while the increase in ice area over the last decades of the twentieth century is likely due to changes in atmospheric circulation. However, the exact contribution of external forcing and internal variability in the recent changes cannot be precisely estimated from our results. Our simulations also reproduce the observed oceanic subsurface warming north of the continental shelf of the Ross Sea and the salinity decrease on the Ross Sea continental shelf. Parts of those changes are likely related to the response of the system to the external forcing. Modifications in the wind pattern, influencing the ice production/melting rates, also play a role in the simulated surface salinity decrease.     

Antarctic sea-ice relationships with indices of the atmospheric circulation of the Southern Hemisphere

A link between the Antarctic sea-ice extent and low-frequency atmospheric variations, particularly ENSO, has been suggested by recent modeling and empirical studies. This question is examined here using a high-resolution (by week, by region) data base of Antarctic sea-ice extent for the 1973–1982 period. Although of relatively short duration by Northern Hemisphere standards, such a data base offers an opportunity rare in Southern Hemisphere climate studies. The seaice variations are examined in the context of longer-term indices of the large-scale atmospheric circulation. These are a Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and an index of sea-level pressure (SLP) wavenumber one in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics. The indices are updated through 1982, and their associations with regional-scale pressure indices in the Australia-New Zealand sector are also examined. The 1973–1982 period is anomalous when compared with the period 1951–1972. Correlation analysis of the monthly sea ice and circulation index values reveals that much of the apparent link between the ice and the SOI suggested in previous studies arises from autocorrelations present in both data sets and the strong annual cycle of sea-ice extent. Removing these effects from the data and re-running the correlations reveals that most of the resulting significant associations between the ice and one or other of the circulation indices can probably be explained on the basis of chance. In order to reconcile these findings with previous studies that show some strong ice-circulation interactions on regional scales, only those months in which significant correlations occur between both largescale circulation indices and the sea ice are examined further. These occur preferentially in the Ross and Weddell sectors, which constitute the regions contributing most to the variability of Antarctic sea ice. The analysis suggests that the sea-ice-extent changes lag the SOI by several months but may precede changes in extratropical SLP wavenumber one. Confirmation of these tentative regional ice extent-circulation teleconnections necessarily awaits the forward extension of the high-resolution sea-ice data base beyond the 10 years available here.This paper is based on material presented at the Conference on Mechanisms of Interannual and Longer-Term Climatic Variations held at the University of Melbourne, Australia: December 8–12, 1986.     

The effect of sea-ice on the transient atmospheric eddies of the Southern Hemisphere

 Two 10 y simulations with a full seasonal cycle and 96×72×19 resolution were carried out with a version of the LMD GCM to diagnose the role of sea-ice on the extratropical climatology of the Southern Hemisphere. The control integration used the usual observed sea-ice distribution, while the anomaly simulation imposed a scenario in which all sea-ice was entirely replaced by open ocean. The simulated control climate was compared with available observational-based analyses. Relevant diagnostics of the time mean and indicators of the transient eddy activity have been evaluated for both integrations. The impact was shown throughout the troposphere and was larger and more organised in winter. We found reduced westerly flow and both falls and rises in sea level pressure in the region from which sea-ice was removed. The removal of ice in the Southern Ocean affects the baroclinic structure of the atmosphere. Changes in baroclinicity and eddy activity are consistent with changes in the mean climate. In general, the meridional wind variance, the poleward transient temperature flux and the eddy flux convergence of westerly momentum were weaker over the Southern Ocean. However, a strengthening of the variance downstream of the subtropical jet was found. The position of the main storm track tends to be slightly displaced equatorward in the anomaly case. Received: 24 February 1998 / Accepted: 13 March 1999     

Late Pleistocene variations in Antarctic sea ice I: effect of orbital insolation changes

The effect of orbitally induced insolation changes on Antarctic sea-ice cover are examined by means of a dynamic-thermodynamic seaice model. Results are compared with modified CLIMAP 18 000 B.P. sea-ice reconstructions. Calculations suggest that changes in insolation receipt had only a minor influence on Pleistocene sea-ice distributions. The small response can be explained by a number of factors: albedo effects reduce the insolation perturbation at the surface; some of the shortwave radiation entering the ocean contributes to bottom ablation rather than lateral melting; the radiation perturbation at the upper surface of the ice must go to warming the surface to the melting point before melting ensues; and, finally, the relatively high heat capacity of open water dampens the surface temperature response to altered seasonal insolation perturbations.     

Late Pleistocene variations in Antarctic sea ice II: effect of interhemispheric deep-ocean heat exchange

Variations in production rates of warm North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) have been proposed as a mechanism for linking climate fluctuations in the northern and southern hemispheres during the Pleistocene. We have tested this hypothesis by examining the sensitivity of a thermodynamic/dynamic model for Antarctic sea ice to changes in vertical ocean heat flux and comparing the simulations with modified CLIMAP sea-ice maps for 18 000 B.P. Results suggest that changes in NADW production rates, and the consequent changes in the vertical ocean heat flux in the Antarctic, can only account for about 20%–30% of the overall variance in Antarctic sea-ice extent. This conclusion has been validated against an independent geological data set involving a time series of sea-surface temperatures from the subantarctic. The latter comparison suggests that, although the overall influence of NADW is relatively minor, the linkage may be much more significant at the 41 000-year obliquity period. Despite some limitations in the models and geological data, we conclude that NADW variations may have played only a modest role in causing late Pleistocene climate change in the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. Our conclusion is consistent with calculations by Manabe and Broccoli (1985) suggesting that atmospheric CO₂ changes may be more important for linking the two hemispheres.     

Some features of sea ice formation in Antarctic coastal waters

Considered are the peculiarities of fast ice formation in the Antarctic coastal waters. It is noted that the fine-crystalline ice with the chaotic orientation of crystals is mainly developed in the surface layers of the ice cover as well as the ice formed due to the infiltration of the sea water and its subsequent freezing in the lower layers of the snow cover. It is demonstrated that under the conditions of coastal Antarctic, the lamination of the structure during the period of ice cover formation and its subsequent development is the result of heavy precipitation in the form of snow and the formation of the large amount of snow sludge and crystals of intrawater ice (frazil ice) on the open water. The main distinctive feature of the Antarctic sea ice is its seasonal stratification with the formation of the surface layer of recrystallized ice and underlying destructive layers including the water interlayer in the ice column. The provision of the safety of overice movement of machinery requires the development of methods of continuous remote control of the snow-ice stratum of the fast ice.     

Southern hemisphere atmospheric circulation: impacts on Antarctic climate and reconstructions from Antarctic ice core data

The atmospheric circulation patterns in the Southern Hemisphere have had a significant impact on the climate of the Antarctic and there is much evidence that these circulation patterns have changed in the recent past. This change is thought to have contributed to the warming trend observed at the Antarctic Peninsula over the last 50 years—one of the largest trends observed in this period on the planet. The trends associated with the continental Antarctic climate are less clear but are likely to be impacted less directly by atmospheric circulation changes. The circulation changes can be put into the context of longer timescales by considering atmospheric circulation reconstructions that have been performed using data from Antarctic ice cores. In this review paper we look at the main body of work examining: Antarctic climate trends; the understanding and impact of atmospheric circulation of the mid- to high-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere; and the usefulness and reliability of atmospheric circulation reconstructions from Antarctic ice core data. Finally, beyond several of the more quantitative reconstructions, it is deemed that an assessment of their consistency is not possible due to the variety of circulation characteristics that the various reconstructions consider.     

An investigation of the small ice cap instability in the Southern Hemisphere with a coupled atmosphere-sea ice-ocean-terrestrial ice model

 A simple climate model has been developed to investigate the existence of the small ice cap instability in the Southern Hemisphere. The model consists of four coupled components: an atmospheric energy balance model, a thermodynamic snow-sea ice model, an oceanic mixed layer model and a terrestrial ice model. Results from a series of experiments involving different degrees of coupling in the model show that the instability appears only in those cases when an explicit representation of the Antarctic ice sheet is not included in the model. In order to determine which physical processes in the ice sheet model lead to a stabilization of the system we have conducted several sensitivity experiments in each of which a given ice sheet process has been removed from the control formulation of the model. Results from these experiments suggest that the feedback between the elevation of the ice sheet and the snow accumulation-ice ablation balance is responsible for the disappearance of the small ice cap instability in our simulation. In the model, the mass balance of the ice sheet depends on the air temperature at sea level corrected for altitude and it is, therefore, a function of surface elevation. This altitude-mass balance feedback effectively decouples the location of the ice edge from any specific sea level isotherm, thus decreasing the model sensitivity to the albedo-temperature feedback, which is responsible for the appearance of the instability. It is also shown that the elevation-radiative cooling feedback tends to stabilize the ice sheet, although its effect does not seem to be strong enough to remove the instability. Another interesting result is that for those simulations which include the terrestrial ice model with elevation-dependent surface mass balance, hysteresis is exhibited, where for a given level of external forcing, two stable solutions with different, non-zero ice-sheet volume and area and different air and ocean temperature fields occur. However, no unstable transition between the two solutions is ever observed. Our results suggest that the small ice cap instability mechanism could be unsuitable for explaining the inception of glaciation in Antarctica. Received: 14 April 1997 / Accepted: 22 October 1997     

Mechanism on how the spring Arctic sea ice impacts the East Asian summer monsoon

Observational analysis and purposely designed coupled atmosphere–ocean (AOGCM) and atmosphere-only (AGCM) model simulations are used together to investigate a new mechanism describing how spring Arctic sea ice impacts the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). Consistent with previous studies, analysis of observational data from 1979 to 2009 show that spring Arctic sea ice is significantly linked to the EASM on inter-annual timescales. Results of a multivariate Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis reveal that sea surface temperature (SST) changes in the North Pacific play a mediating role for the inter-seasonal connection between spring Arctic sea ice and the EASM. Large-scale atmospheric circulation and precipitation changes are consistent with the SST changes. The mechanism found in the observational data is confirmed by the numerical experiments and can be described as follows: spring Arctic sea ice anomalies cause atmospheric circulation anomalies, which, in turn, cause SST anomalies in the North Pacific. The SST anomalies can persist into summer and then impact the summer monsoon circulation and precipitation over East Asia. The mediating role of SST changes is highlighted by the result that only the AOGCM, but not the AGCM, reproduces the observed sea ice-EASM linkage.