Articles | Volume 22, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3537-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3537-2026
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

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Cited articles

Äijälä, C.: Code for Barents and Kara Seas model and reanalysis comparision analysis, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22141085, 2026. a
Årthun, M., Eldevik, T., Smedsrud, L. H., Skagseth, Ø., and Ingvaldsen, R. B.: Quantifying the Influence of Atlantic Heat on Barents Sea Ice Variability and Retreat, J. Climate, 25, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00466.1, 2012. a, b
Asbjørnsen, H., Årthun, M., Skagseth, Ø., and Eldevik, T.: Mechanisms Underlying Recent Arctic Atlantification, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL088036, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088036, 2020. a
Aue, L., Röntgen, L., Dorn, W., Uotila, P., Vihma, T., Spreen, G., and Rinke, A.: Impact of three intense winter cyclones on the sea ice cover in the Barents Sea: A case study with a coupled regional climate model, Front. Earth Sci., 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1112467, 2023. a
Balmaseda, M., Hernandez, F., Storto, A., Palmer, M., Alves, O., Shi, L., Smith, G., Toyoda, T., Valdivieso, M., Barnier, B., Behringer, D., Boyer, T., Chang, Y.-S., Chepurin, G., Ferry, N., Forget, G., Fujii, Y., Good, S., Guinehut, S., Haines, K., Ishikawa, Y., Keeley, S., Köhl, A., Lee, T., Martin, M., Masina, S., Masuda, S., Meyssignac, B., Mogensen, K., Parent, L., Peterson, K., Tang, Y., Yin, Y., Vernieres, G., Wang, X., Waters, J., Wedd, R., Wang, O., Xue, Y., Chevallier, M., Lemieux, J.-F., Dupont, F., Kuragano, T., Kamachi, M., Awaji, T., Caltabiano, A., Wilmer-Becker, K., and Gaillard, F.: The Ocean Reanalyses Intercomparison Project (ORA-IP), J. Oper. Oceanogr., 8, 80–97, https://doi.org/10.1080/1755876X.2015.1022329, 2015. a
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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.
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