Understanding the Evolution of Summer and Winter Polynyas Along Northern Greenland

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Understanding the Evolution of Summer and Winter Polynyas Along Northern Greenland Younjoo Le e 1, Wie sla w M a slo w ski 1, John Ca ssano 2, Robert Osinski3, Jaclyn Clement Kinney1 1Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, U SA . 2University of Colorado (CU), Boulder, Colorado, USA. 3Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland. RGMA PI Meeting, 13-16 October 2020 Winter Polynya Obs. RASM Jan. Feb. Mar. • Negligible sea ice melt • Positive thermodynamic ice growth regardless of warming • Significant ice loss due to dynamic transport (200 km3) Winds in February Satellite Sea Ice Concentration Winds from Stn. Nord • Three polynya events occurred in 2011, 2017, and 2018 • No winter polynya (median SIC<90%) observed before 2010 • Based on the RASM simulation, southerly winds has become stronger and more persistent since 2011 Summer Polynya Nimbus-7 SMMR 1985-08-08 RASM Changing Arctic Sea-ice Year Ice Vol. Loss due Ice Vol. Loss due to thermo- to dynamics dynamics (km3): (km3): July to July to mid-August mid-August 1985 65 268 117 2018 86 150 km3 2020 93 138 Su m m a ry Summer • Dynamic contribution to sea ice loss Winter decreased • Latent heat polynya in February 2018, • 268 km3 (80% in 1985) to 138 km3 (60% 2017, & 2011 in 2020) • Negligible thermodynamic sea-ice melting • But, thermodynamic sea-ice melting • Strong sea-ice divergence due to increased southerly wind • 65 km3 (20% in 1985) to 93 km3 (40% in • Occurrence of winter polynya events in 2020). 2010s • Thinning of sea-ice may not result in • Southerly (including SW & SE) winds have become more prevalent, persistent, and more frequent polynya formation, but stronger. less mechanical divergence of sea-ice • Partly due to thinning of sea ice in the is required to create a polynya. region Future Research • Continue to enhance high resolution (~2 km) model simulations • Evaluate similar polynya events elsewhere under changing Arctic climate conditions • frequent storms/hurricane activities • thinning of sea ice cover • Study their contribution to the Arctic regional climate • heat and moisture transport • Explore impacts of polynya events • marine BGC.

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