Chinese Journal of Polar Research

ADVANCES IN POLAR SCIENCE

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The seasonal foot printing mechanism of spring Arctic sea ice in the Bergen climate models

GUO Dong1*, GAO Yongqi2, 3 & GONG Daoyi4   

  1. 1 Climate Change Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China;
    2 Nansen-Zhu International Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China;
    3 Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center/Bjerknes Center for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway;
    4 State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875,China
  • Online:1964-12-30 Published:1964-12-30
  • Contact: GUO Dong

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Abstract: The influence of spring Arctic sea ice variability on the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) like sea surface temperature (SST) variability is established and investigated using an Atmosphere Ocean General Circulation Model (AOGCM) of the Bergen Climate Model version 2 (BCM2). The spring Arctic sea ice variability affects the mid-latitudes and tropics through the propagation of the anomalous Eliassen-Palm (E-P) flux from the polar region to mid- and low-latitudes during boreal spring. The pathway includes anomalous upward wave activity, which propagates to the high troposphere from near the surface of the polar region, turns southward between 500 hPa and 200 hPa and extends downward between 50°N and 70°N, influencing the near surface atmospheric circulation. The alteration of the near surface atmospheric circulation then causes anomalous surface ocean circulation. These circulation changes consequently leads to the SST anomalies in the North Pacific which may persist until the following summer, named seasonal “foot printing” mechanism (SFPM).

Key words: Arctic sea ice, seasonal foot printing mechanism, North Pacific, sea surface temperature, E-P flux