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Decadal variability of the Arctic Ocean thermal structure

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Abstract

Long-term variability of heat content (HC) in the upper 1,000 m of the Arctic Ocean is investigated using surface and subsurface temperature and current data during 1958–2005 compiled by Simple Ocean Data Assimilation. Annual cycle of the Arctic Ocean HC is controlled primarily by the negative and positive excursions in net upper ocean heat flux, while the inter-annual variability is mainly associated with meridional thermal advection from the North Atlantic Ocean. Variability in HC is experienced as a basin-wide cooling/warming in association with the Arctic Oscillation on a decadal time scale. In the first three dominant modes of Empirical Orthogonal Function, the maximum amplitude of HC variability occurs in the Greenland–Norwegian Sea and Eurasian Basin. In general, HC showed increasing trend during 1958–2005 indicating continuous warming with regional variations in magnitude.

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Acknowledgments

The research work of Bijoy Thompson is supported by Bert Bolin Center for Climate Research (BBCC), Stockholm University, Sweden. Madhusoodanan thanks NUS and NERCI for support. Datasets are obtained from http://ingrid.ldeo.columbia.edu data library. We acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments, which improved the original manuscript. The figures are drawn using Ferret.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National University of Singapore, Physical Oceanography Research Laboratory, Tropical Marine Science Institute, Singapore, Singapore

    Madhusoodanan M.S.

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Bijoy Thompson

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  1. Madhusoodanan M.S.
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  2. Bijoy Thompson
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Correspondence to Madhusoodanan M.S..

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Responsible Editor: Pierre De Mey

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M.S., M., Thompson, B. Decadal variability of the Arctic Ocean thermal structure. Ocean Dynamics 61, 873–880 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0386-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0386-7

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