Analysis of the Spatial and Temporal Variation of Sea Ice and Connectivity in the NEP of the Arctic in Summer in Hot Years
Open Access
- 26 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
- Vol. 9 (11), 1177
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9111177
Abstract
Climate warming has enabled the Arctic region to achieve seasonal navigation, and sea ice concentration is an important factor affecting the navigation of the Arctic waterways. This article uses the Arctic sea ice concentration data of the three highest temperatures in 2016, 2019, and 2020, combined with the Arctic summer sea level pressure, wind field, temperature, temperature anomaly, ice age, and sea ice movement data to analyze the spatial and temporal variation of sea ice and connectivity in the Northeast Passage (NEP) of the Arctic in Summer in three hot years, and summarizes the causes of sea ice anomalies. The results show that: (1) the summer Arctic sea ice extent in 2016, 2019 and 2020 were all lower than the multi-year average sea ice extent, and the summer sea ice extent in 2020 had the largest change trend; (2) in October of these three years, the sea ice was all negative anomalies, extending the opening time of the NEP; (3) when the sea ice concentration was 30% as the threshold, the navigation period of the NEP in 2016 was from mid-August to late October, 2019 was from the beginning of August to mid-October, 2020 was from the end of July to the end of October, and 2020 was the longest year since the opening of the NEP; (4) when the sea ice concentration was 10% as the threshold, the navigation period of the NEP in 2016 was from the end of August to the end of October, 2019 was from early August to mid-October, and 2020 was from the beginning of August to the end of October; (5) the key navigable areas of the NEP in the past three years were the central waters of the East Siberian Sea, the New Siberian Islands and the Vilkitsky Strait; (6) the navigation period of the NEP in 2016, 2019 and 2020 was longer. The main reasons were that the temperature of the NEP in the past 3 years was relatively high, the wind was weak, the sea ice movement had little effect, and the sea ice age in the key navigable areas was first year ice, which was easy to melt, which greatly promoted the opening of the NEP.Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (41471330)
- the Special Study on the Third Land Survey in Shandong Province (Y220004202000004_001, 41976184, 2019JZZY020103)
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- On the 2012 record low Arctic sea ice cover: Combined impact of preconditioning and an August stormGeophysical Research Letters, 2013
- New Trans-Arctic shipping routes navigable by midcenturyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013
- Sea-ice coverage variability on the Northern Sea Routes, 1980–2011Annals of Glaciology, 2013
- The thinning of Arctic sea icePhysics Today, 2011
- The rapid decline of the sea ice in the Russian ArcticCold Regions Science and Technology, 2008
- Antarctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2006Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2008
- Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2006Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2008
- Sea ice remote sensing using AMSR‐E 89‐GHz channelsJournal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2008
- Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice coverGeophysical Research Letters, 2008
- Thinning of the Arctic sea‐ice coverGeophysical Research Letters, 1999