The Arctic and Polar cells act on the Arctic sea ice variation

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe Arctic sea ice has undergone a substantial long-term decline with superimposed interannual sea ice minimum (SIM) events over the last decades. This study focuses on the relationship between atmospheric circulation and the SIM events in the Arctic region. Four reanalysis products and simulations of one climate model are first analysed to confirm the existence of the Arctic cell, a meridional circulation cell to the north of 808N, by visualising through the mean streamline and mean mass stream function in the Northern Hemisphere. Dynamical analyses of zonally averaged stationary eddy heat and momentum fluxes as well as the global precipitation rate data further confirm its existence. Finally, we found that the change in the Arctic sea ice concentration lags the variations of the descending air flow intensity associated with the Polar and Arctic cells, by about 2 months for the climatic annual cycle and about 10 months for the interannual anomaly. Five Arctic SIM events during the last three decades support this relationship. These results have implications for understanding the relationship between atmospheric circulation and sea-ice variations, and for predicting the Arctic sea ice changes.

Long‐term trends of the Polar and Arctic cells influencing the Arctic climate since 1989

“…The spatial structures and intensities of the four meridional cells in the NH can be climatologically visualized by using wind vectors or the meridional section streamline and the meridional mass stream function (MSF) as in the studies of Qian et al . [, ]. The zonally averaged meridional MSF, ψ ( φ , p ), satisfying the continuity equation in spherical coordinates, can be calculated at each pressure level p and latitude by using the vertically integrated meridional wind [ Oort and Yienger , ; Stachnik and Schumacher , ].…”

“…Four meridional cells are commonly observed in the NH, with comparable central intensities and locations from all five data sets. The intensity ratios of the Ferrel, Polar, and Arctic cells to the Hadley cell are approximately 1:3, 1:13, and 1:80, respectively, while the intensity ratio of the Arctic cell to the Polar cell is approximately 1:6 [ Qian et al ., ]. The Arctic cell exists next to the Polar cell as a weak opposite circulation and is centered at 850 hPa and 80°N.…”

“…The subsidence flow is seasonally located on the boundary between the Polar and Arctic cells, while the rising flow is to the north of the Arctic cell center. In the same study, they revealed that the subpolar high zone and the polar low climatologically exist in the middle‐low troposphere over the NH high latitudes [ Qian et al ., ]. In the composite result of the five data sets (Figure f), the Hadley cell intensity (101.47 × 10 6 t s −1 ) in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) is climatologically stronger than that (74.52 × 10 6 t s −1 ) in the NH.…”

“…Recently, using four reanalysis products and a climate model simulation, Qian et al . [, ] confirmed, through the analyses of the zonal mean streamline and mass stream function, that the Arctic cell, a meridional circulation cell, exists to the north of 80°N. Dynamical analyses of stationary eddy heat and momentum fluxes, as well as the global precipitation rate data, further confirmed its existence.…”

On the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Atmospheric Heat Transport in a Hierarchy of Models

“…A number of studies have highlighted the influence of meridional heat transport and large-scale moisture anomalies on both sea ice and highlatitude temperatures across a broad range of time scales (e.g., Jungclaus and Koenigk 2010;Graversen et al 2011;Woods et al 2013;Qian et al 2015;Graversen and Burtu 2016;Baggett et al 2016;Woods and Caballero 2016). Because of their large-scale nature and their close link with enhanced moisture transport, it is reasonable to expect that both the local and zonal extremes and the intense heat transport bands could have a significant impact on the polar regions.…”