Comparative analyses of changes in the ice cover of the Tatar Strait in relation to 1961-1990 and 1991-2020 climate normals

Abstract

Current warming in the Northern Hemisphere has encompassed not only the surface atmosphere, but also manifested itself in a change in the state of the sea ice cover, as an integral part of the climate system. One of the indicators of the warming was a reduction in ice cover observed in the water area of the Far Eastern seas since the late 1980s. The prospective areas of hydrocarbon deposits discovered in the Tatar Strait, as well as the existing needs for the transportation of hydrocarbons along the shipping routes in the strait, led to the emerging interest in researching the ice regime of the Sea of Japan in the modern climatic era. The proposed paper analyses the changes in ice cover of the Tatar Strait in relation to 1961–1990 and 1991–2020 climate normals. The regularities of the long-term variability of ice cover within non-overlapping 30-year periods were revealed. The analysis of the dynamics of ice cover anomalies, calculated for each normal separately, was carried out. An assessment of the distribution of winter types in the periods under study was carried out. The characteristic features of variations in the intra-seasonal course of ice cover and the dates of the onset of ice phases in different types of winters were identified.