Evaluation of sea ice variability in three ocean reanalyses and two regional models in the Barents and Kara Seas in 1991–2020

Äijälä, Cecilia; Gutiérrez-Loza, Lucía; Dorn, Wolfgang; Lauvset, Siv K.; Maslowski, Wieslaw; Uotila, Petteri

doi:10.5194/os-22-3537-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3537-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Evaluation of ocean reanalyses to meet users’ needs

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3537-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

Research article

|

03 Nov 2026

Research article |

| 03 Nov 2026

Evaluation of sea ice variability in three ocean reanalyses and two regional models in the Barents and Kara Seas in 1991–2020

Cecilia Äijälä, Lucía Gutiérrez-Loza, Wolfgang Dorn, Siv K. Lauvset, Wieslaw Maslowski, and Petteri Uotila

Data sets

Code for Barents and Kara Seas model and reanalysis comparision analysis Cecilia Äijälä https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22141085

TOPAZ4B EU Copernicus Marine Service Information (CMEMS) https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00007

OSI SAF Global sea ice concentration climate data record 1978-2020 EUMETSAT https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_OSI_0013

HIRHAM-NAOSIM simulations for the period 1979-2021 with ice-ocean initialization from ORAS5 (P3) Wolfgang Dorn https://hdl.handle.net/21.14106/a6d312c42d4501e75bd9de9186b323206ff5a65b

Short summary

The study compares ocean–atmosphere models, reanalyses, and satellite data for 1991–2020 in the Barents and Kara Seas, where Arctic sea‑ice loss has been greatest. The results evaluate how well these products asses sea ice and ocean temperature. Reanalyses and satellites show strong sea‑ice decline, while models show little or none – only one model shows a near-significant decline in the Barents Sea. Reanalyses also indicate stronger mixed‑layer warming then the models, especially in autumn.