Evidence for atmospheric control of sea-ice motion through Nares Strait

Abstract

Satellite observations of ice motion are combined with model estimates of low-level winds and surface wind stress to provide evidence for atmospheric control of sea-ice motion through Nares Strait, between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, during two periods in 2004. The results suggest that ice flux through the strait, and its shutdown through the formation of a landfast ice mass in the strait, can be controlled by wind stress and atmospheric cooling. Analysis of the model results during these two periods also suggest that the intense, low-level, along-strait winds are strongly ageostrophic, and may be usefully estimated from pressure differences along the Strait. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.