Preface to special section on Beaufort Gyre Climate System Exploration Studies : documenting key parameters to understand environmental variability

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 114 (2009): C00A08, doi:10.1029/2008JC005162.The BG Observational program has been jointly supported by the USA National Science Foundation, Division of Polar Programs (Arctic Science) since 2003 (ARC-0424864); by Fisheries and Oceans Canada; and partially by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

Sea ice circulation in the Laptev Sea and ice export to the Arctic Ocean: Sea ice circulation in the Laptev Sea and ice export to the Arctic Ocean: Results from satellite remote sensing and numerical modeling

Sea ice circulation in the Laptev Sea and ice exchange with the Arctic Ocean have been studied based on remote sensing data and numerical modeling. Ice drift patterns for short‐ and long‐term periods were retrieved from successive Okean radar images and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager data for the winters 1987/1988 and 1994/1995. Seasonal and interannual variabilities of ice drift in the Laptev Sea and ice exchange with the Arctic Ocean during the period from 1979 to 1995 were studied with a large‐scale dynamic‐thermodynamic sea ice model. During an “average year,” sea ice was exported from the Laptev Sea through its northern and eastern boundaries, with maximum and minimum export occurring in February and August, respectively. The winter ice outflow from the Laptev Sea varied between 251,000 km2 (1984/1985) and 732,000 km2 (1988/1989) with the mean value of 483,000 km2. Sea ice was exported into the East Siberian Sea mostly in summers with the mean value of 69,000 km2. Out of the 17 investigated summers, 12 were characterized by sea ice import from the Arctic Ocean into the Laptev Sea through its northern boundary. Magnitude and direction of ice export from the Laptev Sea corresponded with the large‐scale Arctic Ocean drift patterns during periods of prevailing cyclonic or anticyclonic circulation. Based on a semiempirical method that has been validated with the large‐scale model and satellite data, ice exchange between the Laptev Sea and the Arctic Ocean during the period from 1936 to 1995 has been estimated as 309,000km2 with strong interannual variability and no significant trend apparent

The Arctic Basin: Results from the Russian Drifting Stations

The authors describe in The Russian North Pole Drifting Stations for the first time the history of establishing drifting stations in the Arctic Basin since 1937. They set out the main aims and goals of the observations made and outline the methods of organizing the drifting stations, gear and equipment for life support and scientific observations at the North Pole drifting stations and during the airborne high-latitudinal expeditions. The main scientific results and the analysis of data obtained during metereological, oceanographic, ice and geophysical observations are presented and the book contains illustrations, maps and tables that can be used by a wide range of specialists investigating the nature of the Arctic region. An analysis of the contribution of the data collected at the drifting stations, the process of envionmental research in the Arctic Basin and the plans for future use of drifting stations is provided, with special emphasis on the forthcoming International Polar Year 2007-2008