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Simulating the Terms in the Arctic Hydrological Budget

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Arctic–Subarctic Ocean Fluxes

The hydrological cycle in the Arctic is composed of three branches: atmosphere, land and ocean. Figure 15.1 schematically shows the estimated annual rate of transport in cubic kilometer per year carried by the individual branches. Bold numbers are observational estimates taken from Aagaard and Carmack (1989), Carmack (2000) and Woodgate and Aagaard (2005), while other numbers are taken from freshwater budget analysis of several century long climate model simulations: (a) ECHAM5/MPIOM under pre-industrial conditions and (b) Bergen Climate Model (BCM) present-day control experiment. These numbers should be treated with caution because of the large uncertainties involved in various observational estimates and the realism of the relatively coarse resolution climate models in representing the hydrological process and the complicated geometry of the narrow straits. The choice of a reference salinity used to calculate freshwater content in the ocean can also introduce discrepancies in ocean transport and storage changes, although a common reference of 34.8 psu is adopted here. It is clear that significant differences exist between modelled and observational estimates as well as among different models at the present stage. It is, however, useful to show the relative importance of each individual component in the overall hydrological budget. Nonetheless, both models and observations agree on the leading terms of contribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Met Office Hadley Centre, EX1 3PB, Exeter, UK

    Peili Wu & Richard Wood

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Helmuth Haak & Johann H. Jungclaus

  3. Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Tore Furevik

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  1. Peili Wu
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  2. Helmuth Haak
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  3. Richard Wood
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  4. Johann H. Jungclaus
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  5. Tore Furevik
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, NR33 0HT, Lowestoft, UK

    Robert R. Dickson

  2. University of Hamburg, D-20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Jens Meincke

  3. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Peter Rhines

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Wu, P., Haak, H., Wood, R., Jungclaus, J.H., Furevik, T. (2008). Simulating the Terms in the Arctic Hydrological Budget. In: Dickson, R.R., Meincke, J., Rhines, P. (eds) Arctic–Subarctic Ocean Fluxes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6774-7_16

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