Diminishing sea ice has opened the Arctic to navigation and operations like never before. Forecasters are increasingly predicting weather in support of those operations. This module is intended to provide forecasters with a brief introduction to the Arctic, including its geography, climatology, and the forecast problems they are likely to encounter. The module follows a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter on a voyage from Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Islands, to Barrow, on the north coast of Alaska. Various topics are addressed along the way in a series of short, stand-alone lessons.
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After completing instruction the learner should be able to do the following:
- Recall the mission of the U.S. Coast Guard in the Arctic
With respect to Arctic geography:
- Describe the different ways that Arctic is defined
- Recall countries, oceans, and marginal seas
- Describe topography, including the locations of significant mountains, tundra, and glaciers
With respect to Arctic climate:
- Describe differences in climatology between the Arctic and lower latitudes
- Recall synoptic features for winter and summer
- Recall patterns of temperature and precipitation
- Describe factors that affect wind, clouds
- Describe the different types of fog and factors that lead to their development in the Arctic
- Describe flow interaction with topography in the Arctic
- Describe the climatology of cyclones in the Arctic
With respect to vessel icing:
- Describe the factors that affect vessel icing potential
- Recall avoidance and mitigation strategies for dealing with vessel icing
- Recall the forecast products that are available
With respect to sea ice and icebergs:
- Describe the climatology and classification of sea ice
- Recall operational sea ice products
- Describe the climatology and classification of icebergs
- Recall operational iceberg products
With respect to Arctic oceanography:
- Describe currents, bathymetry, and water masses in the Arctic Ocean
- Describe waves in the Arctic and how they are affected by sea ice
- Recall operational wave products
With respect to NWP in the Arctic:
- Recall the NWP models that are run for the Arctic region
- Describe the surface and satellite observations that are used to initialize models
Arctic, geography, climatology, fog, stratus, vessel icing, cyclones, sea ice, oceanography, wave, NWP, forecasting, glaciers, tundra, fjord, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Barents Sea, Aleutian low, Icelandic low, Siberian high, Beaufort high, polar vortex, steam fog, ice fog, advection fog, inversion, barrier jet, polar low, gap wind, iceberg, Beaufort gyre, Norwegian current, Transpolar drift, WAVEWATCH III
