Arctic summer sea ice has shrunk considerably in recent decades. This study investigates springtime sea-ice surface melt onset in the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea, which are key seas along the Northeast Passage. Instead of region-mean melt onset, we define an index of melt advance, which is the areal percentage of a sea that has experienced sea-ice surface melting before the end of May. Four representative scenarios of melt advance in the region are identified. Each scenario is accompanied by a combination of distinct patterns between atmospheric circulation, atmospheric thermodynamic state, sea-ice cover (polynya activity), and surface energy balance in May. In general, concurrent with faster melt advance are a warmer and wetter atmosphere, less sea-ice cover, and surface energy gains in spring. Melt advance can be potentially used in the practical seasonal prediction of summer sea-ice cover. This study suggests the interannual and interdecadal flexibility of spring circulation in the lower troposphere and the significance of seasonal evolution in the Arctic.
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Liang et al. (2024) studied this question.
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