Marine Heatwaves in Siberian Arctic Seas and Adjacent Region

Elena Golubeva,Dina Iakshina,Marina Kraineva,Marina Tarkhanova,Gennady Platov

doi:10.3390/rs13214436

Elena Golubeva, Dina Iakshina + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214436

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Abstract

We used a satellite-derived global daily sea surface temperature (SST) dataset with resolution 0.25 × 0.25∘ to analyze interannual changes in the Arctic Shelf seas from 2000 to 2020 and to reveal extreme events in SST distribution. Results show that the second decade of the 21st century for the Siberian Arctic seas turned significantly warmer than the first decade, and the increase in SST in the Arctic seas could be considered in terms of marine heatwaves. Analyzing the spatial distribution of heatwaves and their characteristics, we showed that from 2018 to 2020, the surface warming extended to the northern deep-water region of the Laptev Sea 75∘ to 81∘N. To reveal the most important forcing for the northward extension of the marine heatwaves, we used three-dimensional numerical modeling of the Arctic Ocean based on a sea-ice and ocean model forced by the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis. The simulation of the Arctic Ocean variability from 2000 to 2020 showed marine heatwaves and their increasing intensity in the northern region of the Kara and Laptev seas, closely connected to the disappearance of ice cover. A series of numerical experiments on the sensitivity of the model showed that the main factors affecting the Arctic sea-ice loss and the formation of anomalous temperature north of the Siberian Arctic seas are equally the thermal and dynamic effects of the atmosphere. Numerical modeling allows us to examine the impact of other physical mechanisms as well. Among them were the state of the ocean and winter sea ice, the formation of fast ice polynias and riverine heat influx.

Highlights

The prolonged periods of abnormally high water temperatures in some regions of the oceans and seas known as marine heatwaves (MHWs) [1] are currently referred to as extreme manifestations of climatic variability [2]
In addition to the spatial distribution of intensity composite index (ICI), we show the time-series of surface temperature in some points and mark the periods of MHWs detected based on the method from [1] (Figure 2 and Figures S1 and S2 of Supplementary Materials)
From 2000 to 2020, we examined the anomalous warming of Arctic Siberian seas in terms of two possible definitions of the marine heatwave (MHW): including and excluding the climatic sea surface temperature (SST) trend

Summary

Introduction

The prolonged periods of abnormally high water temperatures in some regions of the oceans and seas known as marine heatwaves (MHWs) [1] are currently referred to as extreme manifestations of climatic variability [2]. Research shows that the frequency, intensity, and duration of MHWs have increased in recent decades [4]. More intense warming in the Arctic than over the rest of the globe, known as Arctic amplification [8], is closely connected with the sea ice loss [9,10,11]. Since 1978, the start of satellite monitoring of sea ice growth and retreat, the Arctic sea ice showed a declining trend in all months and regions. The declining trend for the summer minimum extent was evaluated as 13.1%

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