An analysis of Antarctic sea ice and extratropical cyclone associations

Abstract

We have examined aspects of the association between Antarctic sea-ice and Southern Hemisphere extratropical cyclones for the period 1973-1991, on a seasonal time-scale. It has been found that a sea-ice-cyclone link is not apparent over the entire sea-ice zone. However, we have found suggestions of interannual connections over certain regimes during particular seasons. Among the connections identified was an association between sea-ice and spatial system density in the Amundsen Sea in summer. Also, winter cyclogenesis density in the Ross and Bellingshausen Seas appears strongly connected to ice in the same region. By analysing the results obtained through lagging and leading the sea-ice time ..