Arctic sea ice volume export through the Fram Strait: variation and its effect factors

Arctic sea ice export is important for the redistribution of freshwater and sea ice mass. Here, we use the sea ice thickness, sea ice velocity, and sea ice concentration (SIC) to estimate the exported sea ice volume through the Fram Strait from 2011 to 2018. We further analyse the contributions of the sea ice thickness, velocity and concentration to sea ice volume export. Then, the relationships between atmospheric circulation indices (Arctic Oscillation (AO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and Arctic Dipole (AD)) and the sea ice volume export are discussed. Finally, we analyse the impact of wind-driven oceanic circulation indices (Ekman transport (ET)) on the sea ice volume export. The sea ice volume export rapidly increases in winter and decreases in spring. The exported sea ice volume in winter is likely to exceed that in spring in the future. Among sea ice thickness, velocity and SIC, the greatest contribution to sea ice export comes from the ice velocity. The exported sea ice volume through the zonal gate of the Fram Strait (which contributes 97% to the total sea ice volume export of the Fram Strait) is much higher than that through the meridional gate (3%) because the sea ice flowing out of the zonal gate has the characteristics of a high thickness (mainly thicker than 1 m), a high velocity (mainly faster than 0.06 m/s) and a high concentration (mainly higher than 80%). The AD and ET explain 53.86% and 38.37% of the variation in sea ice volume export, respectively.