How can we evaluate the heat budget of the Arctic ocean using ECCOv4r5 and SASSIE ECCO LLC1080?

Methods

• Use model diagnostics to compute heat budget terms.
• Define a control volume: Complete Arctic : 65-90°N; and Sub-regions in the Arctic.
• Integrate the heat budget over the control volume.
• Remove the seasonal cycle and linear trend.

Conclusions

• For the entire Arctic region, surface forcing is the primary driver of interannual variability with advective heat convergence driving cooling trend during 1992-2002.
• Dominant driver of ocean heat content changes depending on control volume:
• Advective heat flux convergence in Central Arctic.
• Surface forcing in Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
• Advective convergence + Surface forcing in Kara and Barents Seas.
• Atlantic waters intrude further into the Arctic interior in LLC1080 than v4r5.