Climate and Dynamics

Simulated Siberian snow cover response to observed Arctic sea ice loss, 1979–2008

  1. Debjani Ghatak1,*,
  2. Clara Deser2,
  3. Allan Frei3,4,
  4. Gavin Gong5,
  5. Adam Phillips2,
  6. David A. Robinson6,
  7. Julienne Stroeve7

Article first published online: 7 DEC 2012

DOI: 10.1029/2012JD018047

Issue

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012)

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012)

Volume 117, Issue D23, 16 December 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Ghatak, D., C. Deser, A. Frei, G. Gong, A. Phillips, D. A. Robinson, and J. Stroeve (2012), Simulated Siberian snow cover response to observed Arctic sea ice loss, 1979–2008, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D23108, doi:10.1029/2012JD018047.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

  2. 2

    Global and Climate Dynamics, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA

  3. 3

    Department of Geography, Hunter College, New York, New York, USA

  4. 4

    Program in Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA

  5. 5

    Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

  6. 6

    Department of Geography, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

  7. 7

    National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA

*Corresponding author: D. Ghatak, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. (ghatak@marine.rutgers.edu)

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 7 DEC 2012
  2. Article first published online: 7 DEC 2012
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 11 OCT 2012
  4. Manuscript Revised: 2 OCT 2012
  5. Manuscript Received: 7 MAY 2012

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Keywords:

  • Arctic;
  • climate model;
  • sea ice;
  • snow

[1] The loss of Arctic sea ice has wide-ranging impacts, some of which are readily apparent and some of which remain obscure. For example, recent observational studies suggest that terrestrial snow cover may be affected by decreasing sea ice. Here, we examine a possible causal link between Arctic sea ice and Siberian snow cover during the past 3 decades using a suite of experiments with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Atmospheric Model version 3. The experiments were designed to isolate the influence of surface conditions within the Arctic Ocean from other forcing agents such as low-latitude sea surface temperatures and direct radiative effects of increasing greenhouse gases. Only those experiments that include the observed evolution of Arctic sea ice and sea surface temperatures result in increased snow depth over Siberia, while those that maintain climatological values for Arctic Ocean conditions result in no snow signal over Siberia. In the former, Siberian precipitation and air temperature both increase, but because surface air temperatures remain below freezing during most months, the snowpack thickens over this region. These results suggest that Arctic Ocean surface forcing is necessary and sufficient to induce a Siberian snow signal, and that other forcings in combination can modulate the strength and geographic extent of the response.

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