Observations of Sea Ice Edge Position in the Barents and Greenland Seas: Temporal Variability and Long‐Term Changes

Abstract

Sea ice edges play an essential role in the Earth's climate and weather systems through active atmosphere‐ice‐ocean interactions. However, our understanding of the observed positions of sea ice edges remains limited. The present study investigated, on seasonal and longer timescales from 1979 to 2023, the variability in sea ice edge positions in the Barents and Greenland Seas. We objectively derived the positions of sea ice edges based on satellite‐derived sea ice concentration gridded on a 25‐km resolution. In the Barents Sea, warm, narrow currents flow eastward along the northern and southern rims of the Central Bank. Until the mid‐2000s, sea ice edges fluctuated between these currents interannually during December–June, depending on the surface wind direction. However, after the mid‐2000s, the sea ice edges were mostly positioned near the northern current or farther to the north. Furthermore, sea ice edges during October–March were identified frequently near the warm current flowing along the continental slope in the northern Barents Sea after the mid‐2000s. In the Greenland Sea, sea ice edges were typically positioned near the East Greenland Current (EGC) throughout the year until 2006. However, sea ice edges in summer were located far to the west of the EGC after 2006. These observations suggest that the geographical relationship between sea ice edges and ocean currents has changed due to global warming.