An observational study of radiation temperature inversions in Fairbanks,Alaska

A series of high resolution radiosonde launches were conducted over seven case-study days spanning spring 2009 and fall/winter 2010 during clear and calm nights at Fairbanks, Alaska to evaluate the effects of solar radiation, snow covered surfaces and low-level winds on the formation and evolution of surface-based temperature inversions (SBI). Transition seasons were selected because strong nighttime radiation cooling allows well-defined inversions to form while sufficient daytime solar heating allows the observation of dissipation processes in the sub-arctic latitudes. During the fall/winter period, co-located Doppler phased array acoustic soundings (SODAR) were carried out. The height of the SBI retrieved by radiosonde and SODAR did not differ more than 50 m. However, the SODAR profiles display a much more complex structure in the atmospheric boundary layer. Observations during this experiment demonstrated that the formation of the SBI is initiated by a rapid cooling at the surface followed by a steady columnar cooling and subsequent growth of the SBI depth overnight.     

Interdecadal Variability of the East Asian Winter Monsoon and Its Possible Links to Global Climate Change

This paper presents a concise summary of the studies on interdecadal variability of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) from three main perspectives. (1) The EAWM has been significantly affected by global climate change. Winter temperature in China has experienced three stages of variations from the beginning of the 1950s: a cold period (from the beginning of the 1950s to the early or mid 1980s), a warm period (from the early or mid 1980s to the early 2000s), and a hiatus period in recent 10 years (starting from 1998). The strength of the EAWM has also varied in three stages: a stronger winter monsoon period (1950 to 1986/87), a weaker period (1986/87 to 2004/05), and a strengthening period (from 2005). (2) Corresponding to the interdecadal variations of the EAWM, the East Asian atmospheric circulation, winter temperature of China, and the occurrence of cold waves over China have all exhibited coherent interdecadal variability. The upper-level zonal circulation was stronger, the mid-tropospheric trough over East Asia was deeper with stronger downdrafts behind the trough, and the Siberian high was stronger during the cold period than during the warm period. (3) The interdecadal variations of the EAWM seem closely related to major modes of variability in the atmospheric circulation and the Pacific sea surface temperature. When the Northern Hemisphere annular mode/Arctic Oscillation and the Pacific decadal oscillation were in negative (positive) phase, the EAWM was stronger (weaker), leading to colder (warmer) temperatures in China. In addition, the negative (positive) phase of the Atlantic multi decadal oscillation coincided with relatively cold (warm) temperatures and stronger (weaker) EAWMs. It is thus inferred that the interdecadal variations in the ocean may be one of the most important natural factors influencing long-term variability in the EAWM, although global warming may have also played a significant role in weakening the EAWM.     

中高纬度大气遥相关动力学及其对东亚冬季气候影响的研究进展

北半球热带外大气存在多种形态的大气遥相关。按其空间结构,可以分为两类：（1）异常中心为南北分布的偶极子型（例如北大西洋涛动、北太平洋涛动）;（2）异常中心呈波列型（例如北太平洋/北美型遥相关、欧亚型遥相关）。这些遥相关活动及其变异,不仅对遥相关控制的地区,而且对与遥相关相距很远的地区的天气和气候也产生影响。研究大气遥相关的形成机理及其天气气候影响,是进行短期气候预测的基础。近十多年来北半球中高纬度的大气遥相关动力学研究取得很大进展,在此对一些主要进展进行总结,特别关注影响中国天气、气候的大气遥相关及其影响机理方面的研究进展。     

北欧海主要海盆海面热通量的多年变化

北欧海有暖流和寒流注入,又发生大量回流,水团特性异常复杂。由于北欧海的环流受地形控制,其水团的分布与4个海盆的分布有密切的关系。本文研究各个海盆热通量变化的差异,以研究获取对北欧海海气相互作用区域差异的认识。北欧海的热量夏季以太阳短波辐射为主,冬季以来自海洋的长波辐射、感热和潜热通量为主。海盆间的差异主要体现在格陵兰海,其变化幅度短波辐射高出50%,长波辐射高出大约40%,潜热高出大约60%,感热高出近4倍。可能的原因是,格陵兰海强烈的感热和潜热释放导致海温降低,气温也受北极冷空气的影响,形成与暖流区迥异的自然环境。过去30年发生了2次显著的热量减少事件。其中,1987年的事件很可能与冰岛的火山喷发有关,火山喷发对短波辐射的影响长达一年之久,导致感热和潜热也同步减少。1998年格陵兰海的潜热和感热明显减少,与北极海冰输出导致的海温偏低有显著关系。文章分析了4个主要海盆热通量的变化与北极涛动(AO)指数的关系。结果表明,发生在冰岛海的向下短波辐射和发生在格陵兰海的感热和潜热与AO相关度较高,体现了与AO的密切关系。这些热通量与AO指数的滑动相关系数表明,1992年以前冰岛海的短波辐射与AO的相关性非常高,而格陵兰海的感热和潜热在1993年后与AO高度相关,是值得深入研究的现象。本文的结果支持以下观点:北欧海对北极涛动的贡献主要是格陵兰海的感热和潜热释放通过冰岛低压区的上升气流影响冰岛低压的云量,从而影响到达的太阳辐射而导致大气环流的变化。     

An ice-ocean model study to explore climate change mechanisms in comparison with interannual-to-decadal variability of geochemical tracers

One way to identify the mechanisms that are crucial to Arctic climate change is to use existing data that exhibit interannual-to-decadal variability in the sea ice and ocean interior due to atmospheric forcing. Since around 1960 s, valuable geochemical data of the ocean interior, together with atmospheric and sea ice data, have been analyzed and examined in a coupled ice–ocean model with an idealized configuration of the Arctic Basin. This is fundamentally driven by negative salt flux, in addition to atmospheric circulation and cooling. This strategy has a clear advantage over more sophisticated models with higher resolution that require extensive data collections for verification. Around 1990, the dominant atmospheric mode shifted from the Northern Annular Mode(NAM) to the Arctic Dipole Mode(ADM). The variability of sea ice cover was explained by these two modes sequentially and reproduced in the model. In particular, the geochemical fields indicated a movement of the Transpolar Drift Stream due to the NAM and an oscillation of the Pacific water between the Atlantic and Pacific sides due to the ADM. Both these features were reproduced reasonably well by the oceanic tracers in the model, including the time lags of about one third of the oscillation periods. Thus, this strategy can suggest methods and locations for monitoring oceanographic responses to Arctic climate change.     

Foreword

正Rapid changes of Arctic sea ice cover have been in the focus of the international climate research community in recent years.Quite a few of nations have completed a large number of related surveys and research projects in the Arctic Ocean.Up to now,China has performed six research cruises to the Arctic Ocean resulting in a significant volume of research output.Improved knowledge on the atmospheree-sea ice-ocean interactions in the Arctic is a     

Surface heat budget and solar radiation allocation at a melt pond during summer in the central Arctic Ocean

The heat budget of a melt pond surface and the solar radiation allocation at the melt pond are studied using the 2010 Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition data collected in the central Arctic. Temperature at a melt pond surface is proportional to the air temperature above it. However, the linear relationship between the two varies, depending on whether the air temperature is higher or lower than 0℃. The melt pond surface temperature is strongly influenced by the air temperature when the latter is lower than 0℃. Both net longwave radiation and turbulent heat flux can cause energy loss in a melt pond, but the loss by the latter is larger than that by the former. The turbulent heat flux is more than twice the net longwave radiation when the air temperature is lower than 0℃. More than 50% of the radiation energy entering the pond surface is absorbed by pond water. Very thin ice sheet on the pond surface(black ice) appears when the air temperature is lower than 0℃; on the other hand, only a small percentage(5.5%) of net longwave in the solar radiation is absorbed by such a thin ice sheet.     

北冰洋浮冰区湍流通量观测试验及参数化研究

利用2008年8月21～29日我国第3次北极考察期间在北冰洋海区(84°27′N,143°37′W～85°13′N,147°20′W)冰站观测的湍流资料及相关资料,对海冰近地层湍流通量及其特征参数进行了研究.结果表明:观测期间浮冰近地层始终存在逆温和逆湿层.这与我们以前(1999年在75°N和2003年在78°N)的观...     

An assessment of Arctic Ocean freshwater content changes from the 1990s to the 2006-2008 period

Unprecedented summer-season sampling of the Arctic Ocean during the period 2006-2008 makes possible a quasi-synoptic estimate of liquid freshwater (LFW) inventories in the Arctic Ocean basins. In comparison to observations from 1992 to 1999, LFW content relative to a salinity of 35 in the layer from the surface to the 34 isohaline increased by 8400±2000 km³ in the Arctic Ocean (water depth greater than 500 m). This is close to the annual export of freshwater (liquid and solid) from the Arctic Ocean reported in the literature.Observations and a model simulation show regional variations in LFW were both due to changes in the depth of the lower halocline, often forced by regional wind-induced Ekman pumping, and a mean freshening of the water column above this depth, associated with an increased net sea ice melt and advection of increased amounts of river water from the Siberian shelves. Over the whole Arctic Ocean, changes in the observed mean salinity above the 34 isohaline dominated estimated changes in LFW content; the contribution to LFW change by bounding isohaline depth changes was less than a quarter of the salinity contribution, and non-linear effects due to both factors were negligible.     

Gas geochemistry of the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope: Implications for gas hydrate exploration in the Arctic

Gases were analyzed from well cuttings, core, gas hydrate, and formation tests at the BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, drilled within the Milne Point Unit, Alaska North Slope. The well penetrated a portion of the Eileen gas hydrate deposit, which overlies the more deeply buried Prudhoe Bay, Milne Point, West Sak, and Kuparuk River oil fields. Gas sources in the upper 200 m are predominantly from microbial sources (C₁ isotopic compositions ranging from −86.4 to −80.6‰). The C₁ isotopic composition becomes progressively enriched from 200 m to the top of the gas hydrate-bearing sands at 600 m. The tested gas hydrates occur in two primary intervals, units D and C, between 614.0 m and 664.7 m, containing a total of 29.3 m of gas hydrate-bearing sands. The hydrocarbon gases in cuttings and core samples from 604 to 914 m are composed of methane with very little ethane. The isotopic composition of the methane carbon ranges from −50.1 to −43.9‰ with several outliers, generally decreasing with depth. Gas samples collected by the Modular Formation Dynamics Testing (MDT) tool in the hydrate-bearing units were similarly composed mainly of methane, with up to 284 ppm ethane. The methane isotopic composition ranged from −48.2 to −48.0‰ in the C sand and from −48.4 to −46.6‰ in the D sand. Methane hydrogen isotopic composition ranged from −238 to −230‰, with slightly more depleted values in the deeper C sand. These results are consistent with the concept that the Eileen gas hydrates contain a mixture of deep-sourced, microbially biodegraded thermogenic gas, with lesser amounts of thermogenic oil-associated gas, and coal gas. Thermal gases are likely sourced from existing oil and gas accumulations that have migrated up-dip and/or up-fault and formed gas hydrate in response to climate cooling with permafrost formation.