ИСТИНА

The rapid climate change in the Arctic has a significant impact on the plans for the socio-economic development of the Arctic region, maritime shipping, the development of oil and gas shelf areas. Freeing the surface of the Arctic Ocean from ice contributes to an increase in the recurrence of extreme winds and polar lows [Laffineur et al., 2014; Moore, Renfrew, 2005]. Polar lows are severe mesoscale weather events forming within Nordic Seas with surface wind speed exceeding 15 m/s leading to storms and heavy snowfalls. Polar lows research required high spatial resolution, however there are too few relevant datasets for Arctic region. The novel COSMO-CLM Russian Arctic hindcast covering the 1980–2016 period with a spatial resolution of ~12 km [Platonov, Varentsov, 2021] used in this study to estimate capability to reproduce polar lows and its climatology according to different databases and calendars. Three polar lows datasets sorted out in this study for evaluation included [Kolstad, 2011], [Smirnova et al., 2015; Golubkin et al., 2021] and [Rojo et al., 2019] based on the PANGAEA source, which covered the most long-lasting period. Kolstad calendar covers 1999–2009 period and includes 63 cases; Golubkin calendar covers 2015–2017 period and includes 131 cases; Rojo calendar covers 1999–2019 period and includes 263 cases. These calendars were checked for getting inside the COSMO-CLM hindcast domain and for cases intersections between different data sources. Finally, the common polar lows database has been compiled and included occasional information about polar lows trajectories, dates, scales and the minimal pressure at the center. Some polar lows examples analysis has shown the hindcast reproduced the overall scale and intensity of polar low, however often failed with its location. Further studies would focus on the reasons for these results. Future investigations based on the created common polar lows calendar will include more quantitative evaluation of more polar low cases including its three-dimensional structure, physical and dynamical parameters for its identification and tracking, polar lows climatology research, etc.