Abstract
Quantification of the spatial variability and long‐term changes of Arctic sea ice motion is important for understanding the mechanisms of rapid Arctic sea ice decline because sea ice motion determines ice mass advection, outflow, thickness redistribution, as well as the formation of leads and ridges associated with ice deformation. The spatiotemporal changes in Arctic sea ice motion between 1979 and 2019 and their responses to atmospheric forcing were analysed using satellite‐derived sea ice motion products and atmospheric reanalysis data. The pan‐Arctic average sea ice drift speed increased significantly for all seasons between 1979 and 2019 ( p .001). Rates of increase were higher in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. Spatially, rates of increase in the peripheral seas in the Pacific sector—the Beaufort, Chukchi and East Siberian Seas—were higher than in the central Arctic Ocean and the peripheral seas in the Atlantic sector—the Kara and Laptev Seas. On the contrary, Arctic wind speed increased significantly only in autumn ( p