The Atmospheric Response to Realistic Arctic Sea Ice Anomalies in an AGCM during Winter

The influence of realistic Arctic sea ice anomalies on the atmosphere during winter is investigated with version 3.6 of the Community Climate Model (CCM3.6). Model experiments are performed for the winters with the most (1982/83) and least (1995/96) Arctic ice coverage during 1979-99, when ice concentration estimates were available from satellites. The experiments consist of 50-member ensembles: using large ensembles proved critical to distinguish the signal from noise.