Atmospheric forcing of the Beaufort Sea ice gyre: Surface pressure climatology and sea ice motion

Abstract

The Beaufort Gyre (BG) typically rotates anticyclonically and exerts an important control on Arctic Sea ice dynamics. Previous studies have shown reversals in the BG to rotate cyclonically during summer months and, in recent decades, throughout the annual cycle. In this investigation, we explore the synoptic climatology of atmospheric forcing and its relationship to sea ice motion and BG reversals. A catalog of daily synoptic weather types is generated for the Beaufort Sea Region covering the period 1979 to 2006 using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis mean sea level pressure data, principle components, and k‐means cluster analyses. Mean synoptic type frequency, persistence, and duration values are calculated for each synoptic type and contrasted between the summer and winter seasons. Daily synoptic types are linked to changes in sea ice vorticity by using correlation analysis on lagged sea ice vorticity data. Lag correlations are found between synoptic types and sea ice vorticity smoothed over a 12‐week running mean and show that cyclonic types, which promote southerly or easterly atmospheric circulation over the southern Beaufort Sea, commonly precede summer reversals. Furthermore, significant seasonal within‐type variability in sea ice vorticity is detected within the synoptic types illustrating the importance of seasonal variability on these processes.