Sea Ice retreat and freshwater content from remote sensing data in the Beaufort Gyre

• de Andrés, Eva ^[1] ; Umbert, Marta ^[2] ; Olmedo, Estrella ^[2] ; González, Verónica ^[2] ; Navarro, Francisco ^[1] ; Gabarró, Carolina ^[2]
  1. [1] Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

     Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

     Madrid, España

     
  2. [2] Instituto de Ciencias del Mar

     Instituto de Ciencias del Mar

     Barcelona, España

     
• Localización: 10.ª Asamblea Hispano-Portuguesa de Geodesia y Geofísica: artículos, 2023, ISBN 978-84-416-7540-7, págs. 1122-1126
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • Along with the Arctic water cycle intensification, the sea ice cover is getting younger, thinner, and more mobile. Sea ice loss has a direct impact on the ocean freshening experienced in the Arctic. In the Beaufort Gyre (BG), which is the largest freshwater reservoir in the Arctic, the liquid freshwater content (FWC) within the water column has increased by 40% in the last two decades. In this work we evaluate the freshwater content in the BG using Arctic SMOS SSS and TOPAZ model reanalysis outputs at 12.5 km spatial resolution, and setting the Salinity reference at 34.8 psu. We analyze the temporal evolution of SSS and freshwater content from 2011 to 2019 and compare the results with the temporal evolution of OSISAF sea ice concentration in the whole Arctic and in Beaufort Gyre. Our results show a positive correlation between sea ice extension and SMOS SSS in the Arctic Ocean. For the BG region, FWC computed from TOPAZ outputs show a positive trend during the SMOS era. Topaz SSS and FWC inversely correlate to each other. Although significant, poor correlation is found between SMOS SSS and TOPAZ FWC, suggesting that the former should not be used as a proxy of the later. Finally, we found that SMOS SSS is able to retrieve information of fresher water lenses from sea ice melting. Our research demonstrates how remote sensing salinity can be used in monitoring changes in surface freshwater content of the Arctic Ocean and improving our understanding of how the ice melt interacts with the ocean dynamics in the Beaufort Gyre.

• Referencias bibliográficas
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