Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016

Abstract An anomalous warm winter 2015–2016 lead to the lowest winter ice extent and highlights the sensitivity of the Arctic sea ice. Here we use the 6 year record of an improved sea ice thickness product retrieved from data fusion of CryoSat‐2 radar altimetry and Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity r...

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Main Authors: Robert Ricker, Stefan Hendricks, Fanny Girard‐Ardhuin, Lars Kaleschke, Camille Lique, Xiangshan Tian‐Kunze, Marcel Nicolaus, Thomas Krumpen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-04-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072244
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author Robert Ricker
Stefan Hendricks
Fanny Girard‐Ardhuin
Lars Kaleschke
Camille Lique
Xiangshan Tian‐Kunze
Marcel Nicolaus
Thomas Krumpen
author_facet Robert Ricker
Stefan Hendricks
Fanny Girard‐Ardhuin
Lars Kaleschke
Camille Lique
Xiangshan Tian‐Kunze
Marcel Nicolaus
Thomas Krumpen
author_sort Robert Ricker
collection DOAJ
description Abstract An anomalous warm winter 2015–2016 lead to the lowest winter ice extent and highlights the sensitivity of the Arctic sea ice. Here we use the 6 year record of an improved sea ice thickness product retrieved from data fusion of CryoSat‐2 radar altimetry and Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity radiometry measurements to examine the impact of recent temperature trend on the Arctic ice mass balance. Between November 2015 and March 2016, we find a consistent drop of cumulative freezing degree days across the Arctic, with a negative peak anomaly of about 1000 degree days in the Barents Sea, coinciding with an Arctic‐wide average thinning of 10 cm in March with respect to the 6 year average. In particular, the loss of ice volume is associated with a significant decline of March first‐year ice volume by 13%. This reveals that due to the loss of multiyear ice during previous years, the Arctic ice cover becomes more sensitive to climate anomalies.
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issn 0094-8276
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language English
publishDate 2017-04-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-91117a7aa3b941e6ba01eac70a2aa4b32025-08-20T01:51:46ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072017-04-014473236324510.1002/2016GL072244Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016Robert Ricker0Stefan Hendricks1Fanny Girard‐Ardhuin2Lars Kaleschke3Camille Lique4Xiangshan Tian‐Kunze5Marcel Nicolaus6Thomas Krumpen7University of Brest, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IUEM Brest FranceAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven GermanyUniversity of Brest, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IUEM Brest FranceUniversity of Hamburg GermanyUniversity of Brest, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IUEM Brest FranceUniversity of Hamburg GermanyAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven GermanyAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven GermanyAbstract An anomalous warm winter 2015–2016 lead to the lowest winter ice extent and highlights the sensitivity of the Arctic sea ice. Here we use the 6 year record of an improved sea ice thickness product retrieved from data fusion of CryoSat‐2 radar altimetry and Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity radiometry measurements to examine the impact of recent temperature trend on the Arctic ice mass balance. Between November 2015 and March 2016, we find a consistent drop of cumulative freezing degree days across the Arctic, with a negative peak anomaly of about 1000 degree days in the Barents Sea, coinciding with an Arctic‐wide average thinning of 10 cm in March with respect to the 6 year average. In particular, the loss of ice volume is associated with a significant decline of March first‐year ice volume by 13%. This reveals that due to the loss of multiyear ice during previous years, the Arctic ice cover becomes more sensitive to climate anomalies.https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072244Arctic sea icesea ice thicknessremote sensingCryoSat‐2SMOSsea ice growth
spellingShingle Robert Ricker
Stefan Hendricks
Fanny Girard‐Ardhuin
Lars Kaleschke
Camille Lique
Xiangshan Tian‐Kunze
Marcel Nicolaus
Thomas Krumpen
Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016
Geophysical Research Letters
Arctic sea ice
sea ice thickness
remote sensing
CryoSat‐2
SMOS
sea ice growth
title Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016
title_full Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016
title_fullStr Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016
title_full_unstemmed Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016
title_short Satellite‐observed drop of Arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015–2016
title_sort satellite observed drop of arctic sea ice growth in winter 2015 2016
topic Arctic sea ice
sea ice thickness
remote sensing
CryoSat‐2
SMOS
sea ice growth
url https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072244
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AT larskaleschke satelliteobserveddropofarcticseaicegrowthinwinter20152016
AT camillelique satelliteobserveddropofarcticseaicegrowthinwinter20152016
AT xiangshantiankunze satelliteobserveddropofarcticseaicegrowthinwinter20152016
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