Sea Ice Drift in the Arctic Ocean. Seasonal Variability and Long-Term Changes

Variability in the drift of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is an important parameter that can be used to characterise the thermodynamic processes in the Arctic. Knowledge of the features of sea ice drift in the Arctic Ocean is necessary for climate research, for an improved understanding of polar ecology and as an aid to human activity in the Arctic Ocean. Monthly mean sea ice drift velocities, computed from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), and International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP) buoy data, are used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of ice motion in the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas from 1979. Sea ice drift in the Arctic Ocean is characterized by strong seasonal and inter-annual variability. The results of combined statistical analysis of sea ice velocities and wind fields over the Arctic Ocean suggest that the seasonal changes of local wind are a predominant factor in the formation of the sea ice velocities annual cycle. Sea ice drift velocities mirror seasonal changes of the wind in the Arctic, reaching a maximum in December, with a minimum in June. In the central part of the Arctic Ocean and in the area near the Canadian shore the amplitude of this variation is not more than 2 cm/ sec. The maximum amplitudes are found in the Fram Strait (9-10 cm/sec), Beaufort Gyre (6-7 cm/sec) and the northern part of Barents Sea (5-6 cm/sec). Low frequency variations of sea ice drift velocities, with periods of 2.0-2.5 yrs and 5.0-6.0 yrs, are related to reorganization of the atmospheric circulation over the Arctic. There is evidence that the average sea ice velocity for the whole of the Arctic Ocean is increasing, with a positive trend for the period of last three decades. Trends of the monthly mean ice drift velocities are positive almost everywhere in the Arctic Ocean. In the Baffin Bay, Fram Strait and Barents Sea regions, sea ice velocities have increased dramatically, by up to 0.15-0.20 cm/sec per year. We suggest that the increase of the sea ice drift velocities in the Arctic Ocean is mostly related to the decrease in both sea ice concentration and ice thickness. The character of the inter-annual variability of ice exchange between the marginal Arctic seas and Arctic Basin and in the Fram Strait in general is similar to the variability of sea ice drift velocities averaged for the whole Arctic Ocean. We have found an increase (50-70%) in the ice export from Siberian seas to the Arctic Basin.