Pathways of meridional atmospheric moisture transport in the central Arctic

Daohuan Xu; Ling Du; Jingkai Ma; Huangyuan Shi

doi:10.1007/s13131-020-1598-9

Volume 39 Issue 5

May 2020

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Daohuan Xu, Ling Du, Jingkai Ma, Huangyuan Shi. Pathways of meridional atmospheric moisture transport in the central Arctic[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(5): 55-64. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1598-9

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Daohuan Xu, Ling Du, Jingkai Ma, Huangyuan Shi. Pathways of meridional atmospheric moisture transport in the central Arctic[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(5): 55-64. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1598-9

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Pathways of meridional atmospheric moisture transport in the central Arctic

doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1598-9

Physical Oceanography Laboratory, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China

Funds: The Global Change Research Program of China under contract No. 2015CB953902; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41376008, 41330960 and 41576020.

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Corresponding author: E-mail: duling@ouc.edu.cn
Received Date: 2019-07-22
Accepted Date: 2019-08-16

Available Online: 2020-12-28

Publish Date: 2020-05-25

Abstract

Abstract

Atmospheric moisture transport plays an important role in latent heat release and hydrologic interactions in the Arctic. In recent years, with the rapid decline in sea ice, this transport has changed. Here, we calculated the vertically integrated atmospheric moisture meridional transport (AMTv) from two global reanalysis datasets, from 1979–2015, and found moisture pathways into the central Arctic. Four stable pathways showed an occurrence frequency greater than 70%, and these pathways exhibited a perennial seasonal pattern in the atmosphere above the Laptev Sea Pathway (LSP), Canadian Arctic Archipelago Pathway (CAAP), both sides of the Greenland plateau. Another seasonal pathway appeared above the east of the Chukchi Sea (CSP) during the melting/freezing months (March to September). Through these pathways, AMTv contributed a total moisture exchange of 60%–80%—averaged over a 75°N circle—and focused on the low troposphere. Transports across the LSP, CSP and CAAP pathways likely create an enclosed moisture route. Meridional moisture fluxes are intensified in the Pacific sector of Arctic (PSA), especially during melting/freezing months. AMTv interannual variabilities are illustrated mainly in the Laptev Sea and the east Greenland pathway. Results indicate that accompanying a tendency for a stronger Beaufort Sea High in this sea level pressure field, AMTv through PSA pathways, switched from output to input, and approximately 960 km³ of equivalent liquid water was transferred into the central Arctic during each decade. The detrended AMTv increment is highly correlated with the rapid decline of old ice areas (correlation coefficient is –0.78) for their synchronous fluctuations in the 1980s and the last decade.
- atmospheric moisture transport,
- meridional moisture pathway,
- AMTv during melting/freezing months,
- Pacific Arctic sector

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References(38)

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