Severe Marine Weather Systems During Freeze-Up in the Chukchi Sea: Cold-Air Outbreak and Mesocyclone Case Studies From Satellite Multisensor Measurements and Reanalysis Datasets

Pichugin, M.K.; Gurvich, I.A.; Zabolotskikh, E. V.

doi:10.1109/jstars.2019.2934749

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The linewise observations from the ship do not provide specific details on the origins of these synoptic occurrences. However, the observed characteristics are consistent with cold air outbreaks typically originating from the continental landmasses or ice‐covered areas, as documented in previous studies (Businger, 1987; Fletcher et al., 2016; Fore et al., 2012; Pichugin et al., 2019). These occurrences are commonly observed around the Autumnal equinox, a time when reduced solar radiation leads to more rapidly cooling of both land and ice‐covered regions compared to the ocean, largely due to the ocean's greater heat capacity.…”

Section: Shipboard Surface Heat Budget Analysissupporting

confidence: 90%

Autumnal Equinox Shift in Arctic Surface Energy Budget: Beaufort‐Chukchi Seas Case Study

Carrigg,

Yu,

Menezes

et al. 2024

JGR Oceans

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This study examines the annual cycle of the Surface Energy Budget (SEB) in the Beaufort‐Chukchi seas, focusing on the autumn transition. Shipboard measurements from NASA's Salinity and Stratification at the Sea Ice Edge (SASSIE) experiment (8 September–2 October 2022) and satellite flux analysis for the entire 2022 were utilized to provide a comprehensive perspective of the SEB's seasonal dynamics. An important finding is the alignment of SEB’s autumnal transition with the September 22 equinox, marking the onset of prolonged Arctic darkness. This transition involved a shift from the summertime radiative heating to cooling conditions, characterized by outgoing longwave radiation surpassing incoming solar radiation and a notable increase in synoptic turbulent latent and sensible heat flux variability. The increased turbulent heat fluxes after the equinox were associated with increased occurrences of short‐duration cold air outbreaks. These outbreaks seem to originate from cold mesoscale surface winds transitioning from cooling landmasses or ice caps to the warmer seas, driven by differential cooling rates between land/ice and ocean as solar irradiance declined. Turbulent heat losses, outpacing longwave emission by more than fivefold, accelerated ocean surface cooling in the subsequent 2 months, leading to the complete freeze‐up of the Beaufort‐Chukchi seas by late November. These findings underscore the substantial influence of astronomical seasons on the SEB, emphasizing their crucial role in Arctic climate dynamics.

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Section: Shipboard Surface Heat Budget Analysissupporting

confidence: 90%

Autumnal Equinox Shift in Arctic Surface Energy Budget: Beaufort‐Chukchi Seas Case Study

Carrigg,

Yu,

Menezes

et al. 2024

JGR Oceans

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“…In the Hudson Bay, a PL was observed in 1988 (Gachon et al, 2003). In the Chukchi Sea, polar mesoscale cyclones were observed in the open waters of the freezing season (Pichugin et al, 2019). The included PLs in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea are likely medicanes, the Mediterranean sibling of PLs (Businger and Reed, 1989;Romero and Emanuel, 2017).…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Polar Lowsmentioning

confidence: 97%

A global climatology of polar lows investigated for local differences and wind-shear environments

Stoll

2022

Weather Clim. Dynam.

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Abstract. Polar lows are intense mesoscale cyclones developing in marine polar air masses. This study presents a new global climatology of polar lows based on the ERA5 reanalysis for the years 1979–2020. Criteria for the detection of polar lows are derived based on a comparison of five polar-low archives with cyclones derived by a mesoscale tracking algorithm. The characteristics associated with polar lows are considered by the following criteria: (i) intense cyclone (large relative vorticity), (ii) mesoscale (small vortex diameter), and (iii) development in the marine polar air masses (a combination of low potential static stability and low potential temperature at the tropopause). Polar lows develop in all marine areas adjacent to sea ice or cold landmasses, mainly in the winter half year. The length and intensity of the season are regionally dependent. The highest density appears in the Nordic Seas. For all ocean sub-basins, forward-shear polar lows are the most common, whereas weak-shear polar lows and those propagating towards warmer environments are second and third most frequent, depending on the area. Reverse-shear polar lows and those propagating towards colder environments are rather seldom, especially in the Southern Ocean. Generally, polar lows share many characteristics across ocean basins and wind-shear categories. The most remarkable difference is that forward-shear polar lows often occur in a stronger vertical wind shear, whereas reverse-shear polar lows feature lower static stability. Hence, the contribution to a fast baroclinic growth rate is slightly different for the shear categories.

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“…In the Hudson Bay, a PL was observed in 1988 (Gachon et al, 2003). In the Chuckchi Sea, polar meso-scale cyclones were observed in the open waters of the freezing season (Pichugin et al, 2019). The included PLs in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea are likely medicanes, the Mediterranean sibling of PLs.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Polar Lowsmentioning

confidence: 96%

A global climatology of polar lows investigated for local differences and wind-shear environments

Stoll

2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Polar lows are intense mesoscale cyclones developing in marine polar air masses. This study presents a new global climatology of polar lows based on the ERA-5 reanalysis for the years 1979–2020. Criteria for the detection of polar lows are derived based on a comparison of six polar-low archives with cyclones derived by a mesoscale tracking algorithm. The characteristics associated with polar lows are considered by the criteria: (i) intense cyclone: large relative vorticity, (ii) mesoscale: small vortex diameter, and (iii) development in the marine polar air masses: combination of low dry-static stability and low potential temperature at the tropopause. Polar lows develop in all marine areas adjacent to sea ice or cold landmasses, mainly in the winter half-year. The length and intensity of the season are regionally dependent. The highest density appears in the Nordic Seas. For all ocean sub-basins, forward-shear polar lows are the most common, whereas weak shear and those propagating towards warmer environments are second and third most frequent, depending on the area. Reverse-shear polar lows and those propagating towards colder environments are rather seldom, especially in the Southern Ocean. Generally, PLs share many characteristics across ocean basins and wind-shear categories. The most remarkable difference is that forward-shear polar lows are often occurring in stronger vertical wind shear, whereas reverse-shear polar lows feature lower static stability. Hence, the contribution to a fast baroclinic growth rate is slightly different for the shear categories.

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Severe Marine Weather Systems During Freeze-Up in the Chukchi Sea: Cold-Air Outbreak and Mesocyclone Case Studies From Satellite Multisensor Measurements and Reanalysis Datasets

Cited by 7 publications

References 37 publications

Autumnal Equinox Shift in Arctic Surface Energy Budget: Beaufort‐Chukchi Seas Case Study

Autumnal Equinox Shift in Arctic Surface Energy Budget: Beaufort‐Chukchi Seas Case Study

A global climatology of polar lows investigated for local differences and wind-shear environments

A global climatology of polar lows investigated for local differences and wind-shear environments

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