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Response of Sea Ice to the Arctic Oscillation

Journal of Climate · 2002 · Vol. 15(18) · pp. 2648–2663

Ignatius Rigor✉(University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory)John M. Wallace(University of Washington)R. Colony(International Arctic Research Center)

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Abstract

Data collected by the International Arctic Buoy Programme from 1979 to 1998 are analyzed to obtain statistics of sea level pressure (SLP) and sea ice motion (SIM). The annual and seasonal mean fields agree with those obtained in previous studies of Arctic climatology. The data show a 3-hPa decrease in decadal mean SLP over the central Arctic Ocean between 1979-88 and 1989-98. This decrease in SLP drives a cyclonic trend in SIM, which resembles the structure of the Arctic Oscillation (AO).

Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics Climate variability and models Climate change and permafrostArctic ice packClimatologySea iceArctic dipole anomalyArcticArctic sea ice declineAdvectionArctic oscillationArctic geoengineeringGeology