Evolution of Antarctic Sea Ice Ahead of the Record Low Annual Maximum Extent in September 2023

Jena, Babula; Kshitija, S.; Bajish, C.C.; Turner, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6111-5122; Holmes, Caroline ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3134-555X; Wilkinson, Jeremy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7166-3042; Mohan, Rahul; Thamban, M.. 2024 Evolution of Antarctic Sea Ice Ahead of the Record Low Annual Maximum Extent in September 2023. Geophysical Research Letters, 51 (7), e2023GL107561. 10, pp. 10.1029/2023GL107561

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Official URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.102...

Abstract/Summary

The 2023 Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) maximum on 7 September was the lowest annual maximum in the satellite era (16.98 × 106 km2), with the largest contributions to the anomaly coming from the Ross (37.7%, −0.57 × 106 km2) and Weddell (32.9%, −0.49 × 106 km2) Seas. The SIE was low due to anomalously warm (>0.3°C) upper-ocean temperatures combined with anomalously strong northerly winds impeding the ice advance during the fall and winter. Northerly winds of >12 ms−1 in the Weddell Sea occurred because of negative pressure anomalies over the Antarctic Peninsula, while those in the Ross Sea were associated with extreme blocking episodes off the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ross Sea experienced an unprecedented SIE decrease of −1.08 × 103 km2 d−1 from 1 June till the annual maximum. The passage of quasi-stationary and explosive polar cyclones contributed to periods of southward ice-edge shift in both sectors.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2023GL107561
ISSN:	0094-8276
Additional Keywords:	record low sea ice 2023, polar cyclones, Amundsen Sea low, Southern Ocean warming, atmospheric warming, ice-edge shift
Date made live:	27 Mar 2024 16:43 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537188

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1029/2023GL107561

ISSN:

0094-8276

Additional Keywords:

record low sea ice 2023, polar cyclones, Amundsen Sea low, Southern Ocean warming, atmospheric warming, ice-edge shift

Date made live:

27 Mar 2024 16:43 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/537188