Seasonal sea ice of Foxe Basin, Canada: Spatial and temporal evolution, 1971- 2018

Abstract

The Hudson Bay System of the Canadian Arctic includes Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait and Foxe Basin, with Foxe Basin being the least studied from a climatological perspective. We examined the temporal and spatial variation of seasonal sea ice in Foxe Basin, using time series and spatial clustering analyses. For the period of 1971 to 2018, time series of sea-ice breakup and freeze-up dates and ice-free season length at 24 grid points were generated from sea-ice charts. The temporal analyses indicated a spatially nuanced response to a warming climate with statistically significant earlier breakup dates, later freeze-up dates and longer ice-free seasons, consistent with previous work. Freeze-up dates and ice-free season length correlated strongly with coincident air temperatures. This link was weaker for breakup dates, as also found in nearby Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, and likely reflects dependence on antecedent sea-ice and ocean temperature conditions. The spatial analysis revealed patterns in sea-ice behaviour consistent with the ocean flow regime in the basin and the presence of polynyas along its west coast. The spatial clustering was not as predictably coherent as in Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, which does not bode well for navigation in this region.