In 2014/2015 a one-year field campaign at the Tiksi observatory in the Laptev Sea area was carried out using Sound Detection and Ranging/Radio Acoustic Sounding System (SODAR/RASS) measurements to investigate the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) with a focus on low-level jets (LLJ) during the winter season. In addition to SODAR/RASS-derived vertical profiles of temperature, wind speed and direction, a suite of complementary measurements at the Tiksi observatory was available. Data of a regional atmospheric model were used to put the local data into the synoptic context. Two case studies of LLJ events are presented. The statistics of LLJs for six months show that in about 23% of all profiles LLJs were present with a mean jet speed and height of about 7 m/s and 240 m, respectively. In 3.4% of all profiles LLJs exceeding 10 m/s occurred. The main driving mechanism for LLJs seems to be the baroclinicity, since no inertial oscillations were found. LLJs with heights below 200 m are likely influenced by local topography.
Measurements of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) structure were performed for three years (October 2017–August 2020) at the Russian observatory “Ice Base Cape Baranova” (79.280° N, 101.620° E) using SODAR (Sound Detection And Ranging). These measurements were part of the YOPP (Year of Polar Prediction) project “Boundary layer measurements in the high Arctic” (CATS_BL) within the scope of a joint German–Russian project. In addition to SODAR-derived vertical profiles of wind speed and direction, a suite of complementary measurements at the observatory was available. ABL measurements were used for verification of the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM) with a 5 km resolution for 2017–2020. The CCLM was run with nesting in ERA5 data in a forecast mode for the measurement period. SODAR measurements were mostly limited to wind speeds <12 m/s since the signal was often lost for higher winds. The SODAR data showed a topographical channeling effect for the wind field in the lowest 100 m and some low-level jets (LLJs). The verification of the CCLM with near-surface data of the observatory showed good agreement for the wind and a negative bias for the 2 m temperature. The comparison with SODAR data showed a positive bias for the wind speed of about 1 m/s below 100 m, which increased to 1.5 m/s for higher levels. In contrast to the SODAR data, the CCLM data showed the frequent presence of LLJs associated with the topographic channeling in Shokalsky Strait. Although SODAR wind profiles are limited in range and have a lot of gaps, they represent a valuable data set for model verification. However, a full picture of the ABL structure and the climatology of channeling events could be obtained only with the model data. The climatological evaluation showed that the wind field at Cape Baranova was not only influenced by direct topographic channeling under conditions of southerly winds through the Shokalsky Strait but also by channeling through a mountain gap for westerly winds. LLJs were detected in 37% of all profiles and most LLJs were associated with channeling, particularly LLJs with a jet speed ≥ 15 m/s (which were 29% of all LLJs). The analysis of the simulated 10 m wind field showed that the 99%-tile of the wind speed reached 18 m/s and clearly showed a dipole structure of channeled wind at both exits of Shokalsky Strait. The climatology of channeling events showed that this dipole structure was caused by the frequent occurrence of channeling at both exits. Channeling events lasting at least 12 h occurred on about 62 days per year at both exits of Shokalsky Strait.
By means of complex interaction-processes sea ice not only modifies the regional climate in the ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice system but also the general circulation of the atmosphere and the ocean's circulation. Besides a strong interannual variability sea-ice extent shows an arcticwide significant negative trend during the last two decades with maximum rates in spring and summer. These are often linked to (small-scale) processes in the Siberian Arctic and the Laptev Sea, respectively. The objective of this thesis is the expansion of the understanding of the processes concerning atmosphere-sea-ice interactions on the regional scale during the summer from 1979 to 2002 in the Arctic with a special emphasis on the Laptev Sea. To achieve this, numerical simulations of the regional climate model HIRHAM4 are used in conjunction with ground- and satellite-based observational data. A precondition for the numerical experiments and the realistic reproduction of atmospheric processes is an improved lower boundary forcing dataset for HIRHAM4 based on observational datasets, which is developed, validated and described. To investigate the effects of the sea-ice distribution, its properties and small-scale features on the atmosphere, HIRHAM4 is used in sensitivity studies systematically with different model settings, each of which incorporates the lower boundary forcing data in a different manner. Even little changes in the lower boundary forcing fields, while retaining the lateral boundary forcing, are sufficient to cause the model to produce significantly different atmospheric circulation patterns relative to the control simulations which use standard forcings and settings. Cyclone activity, which is a special focus of this study, is also altered. The mean atmospheric circulation patterns and the near-surface air temperature distribution can be reproduced more realistically with the new forcing dataset, which is shown by validation experiments with observational data. The biggest relative impact, besides an altered sea-ice coverage and distribution, can be reached by using sea-ice concentrations instead of a binary sea-ice mask. By utilizing sea-ice drift data, dynamic and thermodynamic processes can be partially separated from each other to investigate the development of sea-ice anomalies in the Laptev Sea. They depend on a time-critical succession of atmospheric conditions and the properties of sea ice during May and August. Positive air temperature anomalies are identified to be the key driving factors for the development of negative sea-ice anomalies. They are found to be a result of enhanced short-wave radiation balances, which are coupled to high pressure areas and intermediate anticyclones. The polynyas during early summer seem to have an important influence too. Because of lower process rates, the wind-induced sea-ice drift is enhancing and damping the development of the sea-ice area anomalies, but it cannot cause an anomaly all by itself. A precise separation of the effectiveness of the sea-ice transport and the melting rates is not possible due to the available data.
Arctic and Antarctic polynya systems are of high research interest since extensive new ice formation takes place in these regions. The monitoring of polynyas and the ice production is crucial with respect to the changing sea-ice regime. The thin-ice thickness (TIT) distribution within polynyas controls the amount of heat that is released to the atmosphere and has therefore an impact on the ice-production rates. This thesis presents an improved method to retrieve thermal-infrared thin-ice thickness distributions within polynyas. TIT with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km is calculated using the MODIS ice-surface temperature and atmospheric model variables within the Laptev Sea polynya for the winter periods 2007/08 and 2008/09. The improvement of the algorithm is focused on the surface-energy flux parameterizations. Furthermore, a thorough sensitivity analysis is applied to quantify the uncertainty in the thin-ice thickness results. An absolute mean uncertainty of -±4.7 cm for ice below 20 cm of thickness is calculated. Furthermore, advantages and drawbacks using different atmospheric data sets are investigated. Daily MODIS TIT composites are computed to fill the data gaps arising from clouds and shortwave radiation. The resulting maps cover on average 70 % of the Laptev Sea polynya. An intercomparison of MODIS and AMSR-E polynya data indicates that the spatial resolution issue is essential for accurately deriving polynya characteristics. Monthly fast-ice masks are generated using the daily TIT composites. These fast-ice masks are implemented into the coupled sea-ice/ocean model FESOM. An evaluation of FESOM sea-ice concentrations is performed with the result that a prescribed high-resolution fast-ice mask is necessary regarding the accurate polynya location. However, for a more realistic simulation of other small-scale sea-ice features further model improvements are required. The retrieval of daily high-resolution MODIS TIT composites is an important step towards a more precise monitoring of thin sea ice and sea-ice production. Future work will address a combined remote sensing " model assimilation method to simulate fully-covered thin-ice thickness maps that enable the retrieval of accurate ice production values.