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ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 1, pp. 333-348

Extreme moisture transport to the Pacific Arctic on November 26–27, 2019, from ERA5 reanalysis dataset and microwave satellite measurements

I.A. Gurvich 1 , M.K. Pichugin 1 , A.V. Baranyuk 1 
1 V.I. Il'ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia
Accepted: 01.12.2025
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-1-333-348
The paper examines the influence of the southern synoptic process on the extreme water vapor transport to the Pacific Arctic and ice conditions of the Chukchi Sea using the ERA5 high-resolution reanalysis dataset, microwave satellite measurements and the OISST (Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature) dataset version 2.1. On the basis of the threshold criterion, the event was classified as extreme with duration of 30 hours and contribution of 30.1 % to the total monthly moisture transport in November 2019 through 67° N in the 180–210° E sector. Statistical analysis for 2001–2020 revealed 11 such extreme events of water vapor transfer to the Chukchi Sea, with 72.7 % of them occurring in the past decade, which may indicate an acceleration of climatic changes in moisture transport to the Arctic. The event occurred against the background of stable positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Pacific and excess in the duration of ice-free period in the Chukchi Sea by more than a month, which is associated with the residual effects of the marine heat wave. A significant sea ice reduction in the northern part of the Chukchi Sea was accompanied by a combination of dynamic factors (winds >25 m/s, storm waves), thermal processes (heat advection) and radiation effects (an expected increase in descending long-wave radiation due to an increase in atmospheric moisture content). At the same time, the revealed underestimation of wind speed by ERA5 data compared with satellite measurements may lead to an underestimation of the intensity of ocean–atmosphere heat exchange. The study shows that such events can have cascading effects on the Pacific Arctic climate system, affecting hydrological processes, sea ice conditions and regional thermal balance.
Keywords: Arctic, Chukchi Sea, moisture transport, southern cyclone, sea heat wave, ice conditions, climate change, microwave satellite measurements, reanalysis
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