Seasonal ice loss in the Beaufort Sea: Toward synchrony and prediction

Abstract

The seasonal evolution of sea ice loss in the Beaufort Sea during 1979-2012 is examined, focusing on differences between eastern and western sectors. Two stages in ice loss are identified: the Day of Opening (DOO) is defined as the spring decrease in ice concentration from its winter maximum below a value of 0.8 areal concentration; the Day of Retreat (DOR) is the summer decrease below 0.15 concentration. We consider three aspects of the subject, i.e., (i) the long-term mean, (ii) long-term linear trends, and (iii) interannual variability. We find that in the mean, DOO occurs earliest in the eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) owing to easterly winds which act to thin the ice there, relative to the western Beaufort Sea (WBS) where ice has been generally thicker. There is no significant long-term trend in EBS DOO, although WBS DOO is in fact trending toward earlier dates. This means that spatial differences in DOO across the Beaufort Sea have been shrinking over the past 33 years, i.e., these dates are becoming more synchronous, a situation which may impact human and marine mammal activity in the area. Retreat dates are also becoming more synchronous, although with no statistical significance over the studied time period. Finally, we find that in any given year, an increase in monthly mean easterly winds of ∼1 m/s during spring is associated with earlier summer DOR of 6-15 days, offering predictive capability with 2-4 months lead time. Key Points: Eastern Beaufort Sea ice loss happens early due to spring easterly winds Seasonal ice loss is becoming more synchronous across the Beaufort Sea Summer ice retreat anomalies are tied to spring wind anomalies