Emerging trends in the sea state of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas

Type Article
Date 2016-09
Language English
Author(s) Thomson Jim1, Fan Yalin2, Stammerjohn Sharon3, Stopa Justin4, Rogers W. Erick2, Girard-Ardhuin FannyORCID27, Ardhuin FabriceORCID4, Shen Hayley5, Perrie Will6, 7, Shen Hui6, 7, Ackley Steve8, Babanin Alex9, 10, Liu Qingxiang10, 11, Guest Peter12, Maksym Ted13, Wadhams Peter14, Fairall Chris15, 16, Persson Ola15, 16, Doble Martin17, Graber Hans18, Lund Bjoern19, Squire Vernon20, Gemmrich Johannes21, Lehner Susanne22, Holt Benjamin23, Meylan Mike24, Brozena John25, Bidlot Jean-Raymond26
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Washington, Appl Phys Lab, Seattle, WA 98105 USA.
2 : Naval Res Lab, Div Oceanog, Stennis Space Ctr, MS USA.
3 : Univ Colorado, Inst Arctic & Alpine Res, Boulder, CO 80309 USA.
4 : Univ Brest, CNRS, IFREMER, IRD,LOPS,IUEM, F-29280 Brest, France.
5 : Clarkson Univ, Dept Civil & Environm Engn, Potsdam, NY USA.
6 : Fisheries & Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, NS, Canada.
7 : Bedford Inst Oceanog, Dartmouth, NS, Canada.
8 : UTSA, Snow & Ice Geophys Lab, San Antonio, TX USA.
9 : Univ Melbourne, Dept Infrastruct Engn, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.
10 : Swinburne Univ Technol, Fac Sci Engn & Technol, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.
11 : Ocean Univ China, Qingdao Collaborat Innovat Ctr Marine Sci & Techn, Phys Oceanog Lab, Qingdao, Peoples R China.
12 : Naval Postgrad Sch, Dept Meteorol, Monterey, CA USA.
13 : Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA.
14 : Univ Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
15 : Univ Colorado, CIRES, Boulder, CO 80309 USA.
16 : NOAA, Div Phys Sci, Boulder, CO USA.
17 : Polar Sci Ltd, Buckingham, England.
18 : Univ Miami, Ctr Southeastern Trop Adv Remote Sensing, Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA.
19 : Univ Miami, Rosenstiel Sch Marine & Atmospher Sci, Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA.
20 : Univ Otago, Dept Math & Stat, Dunedin, New Zealand.
21 : Univ Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
22 : German Aerosp Ctr DLR, Cologne, Germany.
23 : CALTECH, Jet Prop Lab, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA.
24 : Univ Newcastle, Sch Math & Phys Sci, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
25 : Naval Res Lab, Marine Geosci Div, Code 7420, Washington, DC 20375 USA.
26 : European Ctr Medium Range Weather Forecasts, Redding, England.
Source Ocean Modelling (1463-5003) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2016-09 , Vol. 105 , P. 1-12
DOI 10.1016/j.ocemod.2016.02.009
WOS© Times Cited 75
Keyword(s) Sea ice, Arctic Ocean, Ocean surface waves
Abstract The sea state of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas is controlled by the wind forcing and the amount of ice-free water available to generate surface waves. Clear trends in the annual duration of the open water season and in the extent of the seasonal sea ice minimum suggest that the sea state should be increasing, independent of changes in the wind forcing. Wave model hindcasts from four selected years spanning recent conditions are consistent with this expectation. In particular, larger waves are more common in years with less summer sea ice and/or a longer open water season, and peak wave periods are generally longer. The increase in wave energy may affect both the coastal zones and the remaining summer ice pack, as well as delay the autumn ice-edge advance. However, trends in the amount of wave energy impinging on the ice-edge are inconclusive, and the associated processes, especially in the autumn period of new ice formation, have yet to be well-described by in situ observations. There is an implicit trend and evidence for increasing wave energy along the coast of northern Alaska, and this coastal signal is corroborated by satellite altimeter estimates of wave energy.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 30 2 MB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

Thomson Jim, Fan Yalin, Stammerjohn Sharon, Stopa Justin, Rogers W. Erick, Girard-Ardhuin Fanny, Ardhuin Fabrice, Shen Hayley, Perrie Will, Shen Hui, Ackley Steve, Babanin Alex, Liu Qingxiang, Guest Peter, Maksym Ted, Wadhams Peter, Fairall Chris, Persson Ola, Doble Martin, Graber Hans, Lund Bjoern, Squire Vernon, Gemmrich Johannes, Lehner Susanne, Holt Benjamin, Meylan Mike, Brozena John, Bidlot Jean-Raymond (2016). Emerging trends in the sea state of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Ocean Modelling, 105, 1-12. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2016.02.009 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45590/