The Arctic Energy Budget
The various climatic factors discussed in this section work together to determine the overall energy budget of the Arctic.
The following figure schematically represents the mean annual energy budget of the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere. The arrow T,q represents the advection of heat and moisture into the arctic atmosphere from lower latitudes. Solar and thermal (shortwave and longwave) radiation fluxes are represented by "S" and "L". "O" represents the flux of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere through openings in the ice (leads and polynyas). This flux is significant in winter, when the ocean is much warmer than the air. "P" represents precipitation, "M" represents the melting of snow and ice, and "R" represents the input of freshwater runoff. The "Ice" arrow symbolizes net ice production and export (export of ice from the Arctic occurs primarily through the Fram Strait along the east coast of Greenland), while the "Water" arrow symbolizes the influx of relatively warm Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean. All of the elements in the figure represent processes that release or consume energy (such as precipitation and melting), or fluxes of energy.
Over the course of a year, the net radiation balance at the top of the atmosphere (a net loss of heat energy) roughly balances the advection of heat northward into the Arctic.
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R = Runoff (freshwater) L = Longwave radiation S = Shortwave radiation O = Ocean heat M = Melt (snow and ice) P = Precipitation T = Temperature (heat transfer) q = moisture |
(Figure by N. Untersteiner. First used in "SHEBA, a research program on the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean", NSF Arctic System Science Report No. 3, August 1993)