Summer Climate Interactions in the Arctic Basin

利用10个春夏季节的独特数据集，将测试一系列假设，以更精确地定义雪融化、地表反照率和夏末冰范围的季节和年际变化，其气候意义，以及与地面压力场和高度、温度异常和其他大气指数的关系。在NSF的支持下，这将是对以往工作的扩展：1)基于四个季节（1977、1979、1984、1985）数据的融雪/气候相互作用的初步研究；2)仅准备（不分析）另外六个季节（1975、1978、1980、1986-1988）的基本数据集。分析将使用数字化的10个季节的融雪阶段数据集和参数化地表反照率数据集，这些数据集来自国防气象卫星计划（DMSP） 5月至8月中旬的图像，以及来自其他来源的同步海冰和大气数据。北极浮冰顶部融雪的时间和范围是北半球高纬度地区一个重要的气候强迫因子，对冰的长期质量平衡和稳定性以及北半球其他地区的潜在气候影响具有影响。它也可以作为温室气体浓度增加所导致的气候变化的指标。

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.