Observed Spatio‐Temporal Variability of the Eddy‐Sea Ice Interactions in the Arctic Basin
Name
JGR Oceans - 2023 - Cassianides - Observed Spatio‐Temporal Variability of the Eddy‐Sea Ice Interactions in the Arctic Basin.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
5.79 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b257807c1cccea4eba54a3a59ed28ceb
Author(s)
Cassianides, Angélina
Lique, Camille
Tréguier, Anne‐Marie
Meneghello, Gianluca
De Marez, Charly
Date Issued
June 5, 2023
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Cassianides, A., Lique, C., Tréguier, A.-M., Meneghello, G., & De Marez, C. (2023). Observed spatio-temporal variability of the eddy-sea ice interactions in the Arctic Basin. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 128, e2022JC019469.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
In the Arctic Basin, the ocean dynamics at mesoscale and submesoscale under sea ice are poorly quantified and understood. Here, we analyze comprehensive data sets from Ice Tethered Profilers and moorings from the Beaufort Gyre Observing System spanning the period 2004–2019 in order to characterize the space and time variations of the (sub)mesoscale flow. In seasonally ice‐covered regions, the dynamics in the surface layer is largely determined by the presence of sea ice, with an increased eddy kinetic energy and numerous eddies in summer. Beyond these regions, the influence of the sea ice conditions on the first order dynamics is less clear. A wavenumber spectra analysis of observations at the surface and at depth under the sea ice pack reveals that a large variety of regimes can be found, independently of the time and space variations of the sea ice conditions. Focusing on a census of individual eddies, and their potential signature in sea ice, we found that around 500 eddies can be detected in the subsurface layer over 2004–2019, including both submesoscale (radius between 3 and 10 km) and mesoscale (up to 80 km) structures. Based on simple scaling calculations, we quantify the dynamical or thermodynamical signature that these eddies may imprint at the surface. While they do not induce any significant heat flux and subsequent sea ice melt, subsurface eddies can induce a dynamic height anomaly of the order of a few centimetres, resulting into a surface vorticity anomaly strong enough to impact sea ice locally.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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Creative Commons Attribution
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022jc019469
