On the improvement of sea-ice models for climate simulations: the Sea Ice Model Intercomparison Project

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Experiments with d yna mic th erm od yna mic sea-ice m odel s indicate a stro ng dep e nde nce of t he net rreez ing ra te, sea-ice tra nspo rt a nd \'a ri a bilit )" o n dy na mic m odel pa ra me ters. Altho ug h c urrent d yna mi c-t hcrm od yna mic sea-ice m odels show relati\'ely good agree m ent with o bse rvations, a n o ptimi zati o n see m s to be necessa r y, es pecia ll y for th e pa ra m e teri zati o ns of d yn a mic processes.Presentl y, o nl y a few co upl ed clima te m odel s use d yna mic-th er m od yna mi c sea-ice m odels. In o rder to prom o te, by mea ns of coordina ted num er ica l ex perime nts, th e de\'elop ment or a n optim a l sea-ice model fo r elim a te resea rch, the Sea Ice O cca n l\fodelling Pane l o f th e Arc ti c C lim a te Sys tem S tud y ( ACSYS, a p roj ec t of th e \\'o rld C lim a te R esea rch Prog ram me) has initi a ted the Sea Ice l\lodel Inte rco mpa riso n Projec t (SIl\IIP). Th e first res ults from thi s m odel hi era rchy a pproach a re prese nted.

Sea ice transport: A highly variable link between Arctic and North Atlantic

“…An optimized dynamic-thermodynamic sea ice model [Harder et al, 1998;Lemke et al, 1997] with a viscousplastic theology is used. It is forced with daily fields of surface winds and temperatures for the period 1958- Although sea ice export east of Spitzbergen is much smaller in magnitude than through Fram Strait in most years (Fig.…”

Sea ice drift variability in Arctic Ocean Model Intercomparison Project models and observations

“…Measurements of sea ice drift have much improved through better methods to derive drift speed from moving structures between successive satellite images and through the introduction of microwave imagery [ Emery et al , 1997; Maslanik et al , 1998]. Sea ice drift has been used extensively for the validation of sea ice rheologies in the Sea Ice Model Intercomparison Project (SIMIP) [ Lemke et al , 1997; Kreyscher et al , 2000].…”

Thermal conductivity of sea ice; dependence on temperature and depth

“…The presence of a cover of sea ice in the polar oceans is a major limiting factor in that exchange, for sea ice acts as an effective insulating layer. Thus one of the parameters required by models of the weather and climate is the thermal conductivity of sea ice [Semtner, 1976;Ingram et al, 1989;Lemke et al, 1997;Hamesiak et al, 1999]. The parameter is also required to model the growth of sea ice [Weeks and A ckley, 1986;Maykut, 1986;Bitz and Lipscomb, 1999], which further affects climate.…”