Сlimatic Zones of the NSR

(from Navigational Book 4151; translated from Russian)

Main factors influencing Arctic seas meteorological conditions are the following:

1) Specific character of solar radiation (polar day and polar night);

2) Character of atmospheric circulation;

3) Inhomogeneous underlying surface, which is caused by the presence of inland and drift ice, by the influence of warm waters from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by the water inflow from Siberian rivers, and by topography.

The NSR crosses three climatic zones, as follows:

1. Atlantic Area (Barents Sea, western part of the Kara Sea and part of the Arctic Ocean extending to the north of the Barents and Kara Seas): Characteristic for this area are high occurrences of atmospheric lows (Polar Lows) and disturbed weather in winter, and dull weather with frequent fogs and precipitation in summer.

2. Siberian Area (the eastern Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, western part of the East Siberian Sea). This area is influenced by the Siberian Low in the winter: Winter air temperatures are lower here than in surrounding areas, and these temperatures are almost the same through the whole area. In summer air temperature rises considerably in the southern part of the area, especially near the continental coast, while in the northern part air temperature remains low.

3. Pacific Area (eastern part of the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea): This area is strongly influenced by Pacific Lows in winter. Air temperature is higher, and wind strength and amount of precipitation are greater here than in the surrounding areas. Summer is marked by the highest rate of atmospheric lows for the NSR, and by considerable air temperature fluctuations. In the southern part of the area fog occurs more frequently than in adjacent regions.

Wind, visibility and air temperature are meteorological factors directly affecting navigation. Polar stations provide regular data on wind, visibility and air temperature. However, data from the coastal stations do not always reflect meteorological conditions along the route itself. To try to compensate for this results of analysis of atmospheric circulation peculiarities and of synoptic processes have been used along with the data from the polar stations when describing meteorological conditions along the NSR.

State hydrographic department of the Ministry of Transport of Russian Federation, 1996, Сlimatic Zones of the NSR, .©