The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica

Pope, James O. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8945-4209; Holland, Paul R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8370-289X; Orr, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5111-8402; Marshall, Gareth J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8887-7314; Phillips, Tony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3058-9157. 2017 The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (12). 6200-6208. 10.1002/2017GL073414

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Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/20...

Abstract/Summary

We assess the impact of El Niño-induced wind changes on seasonal West Antarctic sea ice concentrations using reanalysis data and sea ice observations. A novel ice budget analysis reveals that in autumn a previously identified east-west dipole of sea ice concentration anomalies is formed by dynamic and thermodynamic processes in response to El Niño-generated circulation changes. The dipole features decreased (increased) concentration in the Ross Sea (Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas). Thermodynamic processes and feedback make a substantial contribution to ice anomalies in all seasons. The eastward propagation of this anomaly is partly driven by mean sea ice drift rather than anomalous winds. Our results demonstrate that linkages between sea ice anomalies and atmospheric variability are highly nonlocal in space and time. Therefore, we assert that caution should be applied when interpreting the results of studies that attribute sea ice changes without accounting for such temporally and spatially remote linkages.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1002/2017GL073414
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Atmosphere, Ice and Climate BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Polar Oceans
ISSN:	0094-8276
Additional Keywords:	El Nino, Antarctica, sea ice
Date made live:	27 Jun 2017 08:37 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517131

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1002/2017GL073414

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Atmosphere, Ice and Climate
BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Polar Oceans

ISSN:

0094-8276

Additional Keywords:

El Nino, Antarctica, sea ice

Date made live:

27 Jun 2017 08:37 +0 (UTC)