Impacts on High-Latitude DoD Infrastructure and Operations from Melt Events Driven by Large-Scale Low-Frequency Atmospheric Circulations

The goal of this work was to understand and quantify the role of large-scale, low frequency atmospheric circulation anomalies and moisture transport on the climate system of the North Atlantic sector of the Arctic (North Atlantic Arctic, NAA). This work was motivated by recent changes in atmospheric circulation in the NAA, and their influence on sensible heat and moisture advection from the mid-latitudes into the Arctic, the surface energy budget over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and adjacent sea ice, resulting in unprecedented melt and freshwater runoff events. Impacts of such extreme events have significant implications on DoD infrastructure and operations in the NAA, and have the potential to disrupt mission training at DoD installations across the region.