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Polar Ocean Climate Processes

Overall objective: to quantify and understand climate processes in polar marginal seas, with emphasis on the western Barents Sea, Svalbard region and Greenland Sea, in order to improve our understanding of future regional and global climate and its predictability.

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Polar Ocean Climate Processes

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  1. Overall objective: to quantify and understand climate processes in polar marginal seas, with emphasis on the western Barents Sea, Svalbard region and Greenland Sea, in order to improve our understanding of future regional and global climate and its predictability. WP2: to understand dense water formation on polar shelves, and develop high resolution atmosphere, ice and ocean model tools which properly describe the processes WP3: to measure major cold outflows from the shelf region and understand the mixing processes determining their fate. Polar Ocean Climate Processes

  2. Polynya dynamics and export of dense water Results from the Storfjord laboratory • Peter M. Haugan1,2, Ragnheid Skogseth3, Ilker Fer2,1, Lars H. Smedsrud2,1 • 1Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Norway • 2Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen • 3University Centre on Svalbard • (presentation at Ocean Sciences 2006) • Observed polynya opening and closing, salt rejection and build-up, outflow, entrainment and mixing from satellite and in situ data • Interannual variability • Future use of the ”laboratory” www.gfi.uib.no, www.bjerknes.uib.no, www.unis.no ProClim project web site www.noclim.org

  3. Storfjorden contributes 6-15% of total ice production and 3-20% of dense water formation in Arctic coastal polynyas: Proximity to Atlantic Water and main shelf break Recurrent polynya Time scale of BSW accumulation and flushout < 1 year Quantifiable interannual variability -> ”Laboratory” Simple approach provided fundamental understanding, but source->basin->export scheme has complexities. Identified possibilities for feedback and oscillations involving wind, external ice conditions and source waters affecting total ice production, BSW volume and BSW salinity. Quantified mixing processes affecting gravity current. Summary

  4. Plans: Winter field work in 2006 addressing freezing/salt release mechanism and ice thickness distribution Summer field work in 2006 addressing ambient mixing and effects on overflow and gravity current Outflow (bottom ADCP) moorings planned through 2008 Coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean modelling in progress Issues: Role of tides in addition to wind as forcing for polynya opening (-> current meters near northern sounds) Internal cascading in the basin (-> distributed sensors) Maintaining time series of satellite data, CTD and other data for improved understanding of interannual variability Further work

  5. Skogseth, R., I. Fer and P.M. Haugan 2005. Dense-water production and outflow from an Arctic coastal polynya in Storfjorden. In Helge Drange, Trond Dokken, Tore Furevik, Ruediger Gerdes and Wolfgang Berger (Ed.): The Nordic Seas: An Integrated Perspective, volume 158 of AGU Geophysical Monograph, pages 73-88. American Geophysical Union Skogseth, R., P.M. Haugan and M. Jakobsson 2005. Watermass transformations in Storfjorden. Cont. Shelf Research 25, 667-695. Skogseth, R., P.M. Haugan and J. Haarpaintner 2004. Ice and Brine Production in Storfjorden From Four Winters of Satellite and in Situ Observations. J. geoph. Res. 109, C10008, doi:10.1029/2004JC002384. Fer, I., R. Skogseth and P.M. Haugan 2004. Mixing of the Storfjorden (Svalbard Archipelago) overflow inferred from density overturns. J. geoph. res.Vol. 109, C01005, doi:10.1029/2003JC001968. Fer, I., R. Skogseth, P.M. Haugan and P. Jaccard 2003. Observations of the Storfjorden overflow. Deep-Sea ResearchPart I, Vol 50 (10-11) pp 1283-1303. Fer, I. 2006. Scaling turbulent dissipation in an Arctic fjord. Accepted in Deep-Sea Res. II. Smedsrud, L.H. and R. Skogseth 2006. Field measurements of Arctic grease ice properties and processes. Accepted in Cold Regions Science and Technology   doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2005.11.002 Smedsrud, L.H., Budgell, W.P, Jenkins, A.D. and Ådlandsvik, B. 2006 Fine scale sea ice modelling of the Storfjorden polynya. Accepted in Annals of Glaciology Vol. 44. Haarpaintner, J. , J.-C. Gascard and P.M. Haugan 2001. Ice production and brine formation in Storfjorden. J. geoph. res. 106(C7) 14001-14013. Haarpaintner, J., P.M. Haugan and J.-C. Gascard 2001. Interannual variability of the Storfjorden (Svalbard) ice cover and ice production observed by ERS-2 SAR. Ann. Glaciol. 33, 430-436. Haarpaintner, J., J. O'Dwyer, J.-C. Gascard, P.M. Haugan , U. Schauer, and S. Østerhus 2001. Seasonal transformation of water masses, circulation and brine formation observed in Storfjorden, Svalbard. Ann. Glaciol. 33, 437-443. Some references Thanks also to Jørg Haarpaintner, student at UNIS 97/98, PhD at Univ. of Paris 2001

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