Summer Climate Interactions in the Arctic Basin

利用10个春夏季节的独特数据集，将检验一系列假设，以更准确地定义积雪融化、地表反照率和夏末冰层范围的季节和年际变化、其气候意义以及与地面气压场和高度、温度异常和其他大气指数的关系。这将构成国家科学基金支持下以前工作的扩展：1)基于四季(1977、1979、1984、1985)数据对积雪融化/气候相互作用的初步研究；2)仅准备(不分析)额外六个季节(1975、1978、1980、1986-1988)的基本数据集。分析将使用从5月到8月中旬的国防气象卫星计划(DMSP)图像构建的十个季节积雪融化阶段和参数化地表反照率数据集，以及来自其他来源的一致的海冰和大气数据。北极积冰顶部积雪融化的时间和程度是北部高纬度地区的一个重要气候强迫因素，对北半球其他地区的冰的长期质量平衡和稳定以及潜在的气候影响具有影响。它还可以作为温室气体浓度增加所迫使的气候变化的一个指标。

Using a unique data set of ten spring-summer seasons, a series of hypotheses will be tested to define more precisely the seasonal and interannual variability of snow melt, surface albedo and late-summer ice extent, its climatic significance, and relationships with surface pressure fields and heights, temperature anomalies and other atmospheric indices. This will constitute an expansion of previous work under NSF support for 1) an initial study of snow melt/climate interactions based on four seasons (1977, 1979, 1984, 1985) of data and 2) the basic data set preparation only (no analysis) of six additional seasons (1975, 1978, 1980, 1986-1988). The analysis will be performed using digitized ten-season data sets of snow melt stages and parameterized surface albedo constructed from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) imagery for May through mid-August and coincident sea ice and atmospheric data from other sources. The timing and extent of snow melt atop the Arctic pack ice is an important climatic forcing factor of northern high latitudes, with implications for the long-term mass balance and stability of the ice and potential climatic impacts in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It may also serve as an indicator of climatic change forced by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.