Abstract
The atmospheric components of the hydrological cycle comprise the following: total precipitation (rainfall, snowfall and other hydrometeors deposited on the Earth’s surface), evapo-sublimation, the horizontal advection of water vapour and of water in the liquid or solid phase. The information available on each of these variables is reviewed and assessed. For the Arctic Ocean, the conventional approach to moisture-balance assessment, using data on precipitation and evaporation, is severely constrained by the paucity of direct observations and their severe biases. There are even fewer direct evaposublimation measurements, and most rely on bulk aerodynamic formulations. The preferable alternative for the Arctic basin as a whole is to use indirect aerological computations of the net moisture balance. This approach can be supplemented by observations and model-derived data in order to obtain the spatial patterns of moisture balance variations. The data required to calculate atmospheric moisture flux divergence are acquired from atmospheric balloon soundings (rawinsonde ascents) of upper air winds and moisture content and from analyzed atmospheric fields. Calculations of the poleward flux of moisture from rawinsonde data indicate an annual flux convergence of 161 mm across 70°N with a 23-year range from 212 to 106 mm. The net (P-E) over the Arctic Ocean is about half of the calculated runoff into the Arctic and 20 percent of the total input. The potential variability in the atmospheric component, including its spatial characteristics, is assessed relative to that associated with the other components of the freshwater balance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Treshnikov, A.F., E.S. Korotkevich, Yu. A. Kruchinin and V.F. Markov. eds. (1985) Atlas Arktiki, Glaviioi Upravenie Geodezii i Kartografii, USSR, Moscow. Plate 97.
Aagaard, K. and Carmack, E.C. (1989) The role of sea ice and other freshwater in the Arctic circulation. J. Geophys. Res., 94(C10) 14,485–14,498.
Barry, R.G., Serreze, M.C. and Walsh, J.E. (1996) Atmospheric components of the hydrological cycle in the Arctic. In P. Lemke et al., eds., Proceedings of the ACSYS Conference on the Dynamics of the Arctic Climate System, WCRP-94, WMO/TD No. 760, WMO, Geneva, pp. 24–31.
Gorshkov, S.G., ed. (1983) World Ocean Atlas. Volume 3: Arctic Ocean. (in Russian). Pergamon Press, Oxford, 189 P.
Ivanov, V.V. and Yankina, V.A. (1991) Vodnye resursy Arktiki, ikh izuchennost’i ocherednye zadachi issledovanii. Probl. Arkt. Antarkt., 66:118–128.
Vuglinsky, V. (1998) River water inflow to the Arctic Ocean - conditions of formation, time variabilty and forecasts. Proceedings of the ACSYS on Conference Polar Processes and Global Climate, WCRP-106, WMO/TD. No. 98, WMO, Geneva, pp. 277–78.
Dingman, S.L., Barry, R.G., Weller, G., Benson, C.S., LeDrew, E.F. and Goodwin, C.W, (1980) Climate, snow cover, microclimate and hydrology. In Brown, J., Miller, P.C., Tieszen, F.L., and Bunnell, F.L.eds., An Arctic Ecosystem., The Coastal Tundra at Barrow, Alaska. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, PA., pp. 3065.
Wedel, J.H. (1990) Regional hydrology, in T.D. Prowse and C.S.L. Ommanney, eds., Northern Hydrology: Canadian Perspectives, NHRI Science Report No. 1, Minister of Supply and Services, Canada, pp. 207–26.
Ivanov, V.V. (1998) The contribution of the run-off to the freshwater balance of the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas. This volume.
NSIDC (1997) Arctic Ocean Snow and Meteorological Observations from Drifting Stations: 1937,1950–1991. CD-ROM. National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado at Boulder.
Vose, R.S., R.L. Schomyer, P.M. Steurer, T.C. Peterson, R. Heim, T.R. Karl and J.K. Eisheid. (1992) The Global Historical Climatology Network: Long-Tenn Monthly Temperature, Precipitation, Sea Level Pressure, and Station Pressure Data. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 3912, 99.pp. plus appendices.
Warren, S.G., Rigor, I.G., Untersteiner, N., Radionov, V.F., Bryazgin, N.N., Aleksandrov, Y.I., and Colony, R. (1999) Snow depth on Arctic sea ice, J. Clim., in press.
NSIDC (1996) Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth (HSDSD). CD-ROM. National Snow and Ice Data Center University of Colorado at Boulder.
Romanov, I.P. (1996) Atlas of Ice and Snow of the Arctic Basin and Siberian Shelf Sea. 2“d edn., Backbone Publishing Fairlawn, NJ, 250 charts.
Razuvaev, V. (1997) The Arctic runoff data base (ARDB). In R.G. Barry et al., eds., Proceedings of the Workshop on the Implementation of the Arctic Precipitation Data Archive (APDA) at the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC). WCRP-98, WMO/TD No.804, WMO, Geneva, pp.41–46.
Bryazgin, N.N. (1976) Srednegodovoe kolichestvo osadkov v Arktike s uchetom pogreshnosti osadkomerov (Mean annual precipitation in the Arctic with consideration of gauge biases.) Trudy Ark. Antarkt. Nauch.Isssled. Inst., 323:40–74.
Korzun, V.I. ed. (1976)Atlas of World Water Balance. Gidrometeiozdat, Leningrad. 122p.
Burova, L.P. (1983) Vlagoborot v atmosfere Arktike. (Moisture in the Arctic atmosphere) Gidrometeiozdat, Leningrad. 128pp.
Walsh, J.E., Kattsov, V., Portis, D. and Meleshko, V. (1998) Arctic precipitation and evaporation: model results and observational estimates. J. Clim., 11: 72–87.
Legates, D. and Willmott, C. (1990) Mean seasonal and spatial variability in gauge-corrected global precipitation. Int. J. Climatol., 10: 110–127.
Serreze, M.C. and Hurst, C.M. (1999) Representation of mean Arctic precipitation from NCEP/NCAR and ERA reanalysis. J. Clim., in press.
Groisman, P. Y., Koknaeva, V.V., Belokrylova, T.A. and Karl, T.R., (1991) Overcoming biases of precipitation: A history of the USSR experience. Bull. Amer. Met. Soc.,72: 1725–33.
Armstrong, R. and Brodzik, M-J. (1995) An earth-gridded SSM/I data set for cryospheric studies and global change monitoring, Advances in Space Research, 16 (10): 155–161.
Serreze, M.C. and Barry, R.G. (1988) Atmospheric components of the Arctic Ocean hydrological budget assessed from rawinsonde data (this volume).
Serreze, M.C. and Maslanik, J.A. (1997) Arctic precipitation as represented in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis.Ann. Glaciol., 25: 429433.
Barry, R.G., Courtin, G.M. and Labine, C. (1981) Tundra climates, in L.D. Bliss, O.W. Heal and J.J. Moore, eds., Tundra Ecosystems: Comparative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, pp. 81–114.
Zubenok, Z. T. (1976) Isparenie s sushi vodosbornogo basseina Severnogo Ledovitogo Okeana. (Evaporation from the basins draining into the Arctic Ocean.) TrudyArkt. Antarkt Nauchno.-Issled. Inst. 323: 87–100.
Khrol, V.P. (1976) Isparenie s poverkhnosti Severnogo Ledovitogo Okeana. (Evaporation from the Arctic Ocean surface), TrudyArkt. Antarkt. Nauch-Issled. Inst.,323: 148–155.
Marshunova, M.S. and Chemigovskiy, N.T. (1978) The Radiation Regime of the Foreign Arctic. NSF-TT-7251034 (NTIS, PB 2864692), 189 pp.
Alestalo, M. (1983) The atmospheric water vapor budget over Europe, In A. Street-Perrott, M. Beran and R. Ratcliff. Eds., Variations of the Global Water Budget,D. Reidel, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 67–79.
Serreze, M.C., Barry, R.G., Rehder, M.C. and Walsh, J.E. (1995) Variability in atmospheric circulation and moisture flux over the Arctic. Phil. Trans.R. Soc. Lond., A 352: 215–25.
Peixoto, J.P. and Oort, A.H. (1983) The atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle and climate, in A. StreetPerrott, M. Beran and R. Rackcliff, eds., Variations of the Global Water Budget, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 5–65.
Bromwich, D.H., Cullather, R.I., and Serreze, M.C. (this volume).
Colony, R., Radionov, V. and Tanis, F.J. (1998) Measurements of precipitation and snow pack at the Russian North Pole drifting stations, Polar Rec., 34: 3–14.
Rudels, B. (1987) On the mass balance of the Polar Ocean with special emphasis on the Frain Strait. Norsk Polar Inst. Skrifter 188: 1–53.
Coachman, L.K. and Aagaard, K. (1988)Transports through the Bering Strait: annual and interannual variability. J. Geophys. Res.,93: 15. 535–539.
Steele, M., Thomas, D., Rothrock, D., and Martin, S. (1996) A simple model study of the Arctic Ocean freshwater balance,1979–1985. J. Geophys. Res., 101 (C9): 20,1979–1985.
Vinje, T., Nordlund, N. and Kvarnbekk, A. (1998) Monitoring ice thickness in Frain Strait. J. Geophys. Res„ 103 (C5): 10,437–449.
Harder, M., Lemke, P. and Efilmer, L.(1998) Simulation of sea ice transport through Fram Strait: Natural variability and sensitivity to forcing. J.Geophvs. Res., 103(C3): 5595–5605.
Osterhus, S. and Vinje, T. (this volume).
Rudels, B. (1986) The outflow of polar water through the Arctic Archipelago and oceanographic conditions in Baffin Bay. Polar Res., 4: 161–180.
Melling, H. (this volume).
Thomas, D., Martin, S., Rothrock, D. and Steele, M. (1995) Assimilating satellite concentration data into an Arctic sea ice mass balance model, 1979–85. J. Geophys. Res., 101 (C9): 20,1979–85.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Barry, R.G., Serreze, M.C. (2000). Atmospheric Components of the Arctic Ocean Freshwater Balance and Their Interannual Variability. In: Lewis, E.L., Jones, E.P., Lemke, P., Prowse, T.D., Wadhams, P. (eds) The Freshwater Budget of the Arctic Ocean. NATO Science Series, vol 70. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4132-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4132-1_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6440-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4132-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive