Third Conference Polar Meteorology And Oceanography

This book is a new and revised second edition of the book ‘The Climate of the Arctic’, published in 2003. It presents a comprehensive analysis of the current state of knowledge related to the climate of the Arctic, using the latest meteorological data. All meteorological elements are described in detail and an up-to-date review of the available literature for each element is given. Climatic regions are distinguished and described. The monograph also provides an account of the present state of research on climate change and variability in the Arctic for three time scales: the Holocene, the last Millennium, and the instrumental period. The book concludes with a presentation of the scenarios of the Arctic climate in the 21st century. This monograph is intended for all those with a general interest in the fields of meteorology, climatology, and with a knowledge of the application of statistics in these areas.

The Arctic troposphere (0 to ca. 8 km) plays an important role in environmental concerns for global change. It is a unique chemical reactor influenced by human activity and the Arctic ocean. It is surrounded by industrialized continents that in winter contribute gaseous and particulate pollution (Arctic haze). It is underlain by the flat Arctic ocean from which it is separated by a crack-ridden ice membrane 3 to 4 m thick. Ocean to atmosphere exchange of heat, water vapor and marine biogenic gases influence the composition of the reactor. From September 21 to December 21 to March 21, the region north of the Arctic circle goes from a completely sunlit situation to a completely dark one and then back to light. At the same time the lower troposphere is stably stratified. This hinders vertical mixing. During this light period, surface temperature reaches as low as -40°C. In this environment, chemical reactions involving sunlight are generally much slower than further south. Thus, the abundance of photochemically reactive compounds in the atmosphere can be high prior to polar sunrise. Between complete dark in February and complete light in April, a number of chemical changes in the lower troposphere take place.