Articles | Volume 16, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2565-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2565-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
28 Jun 2022
Research article |
| 28 Jun 2022
| 28 Jun 2022
Sea ice floe size: its impact on pan-Arctic and local ice mass and required model complexity
Adam William Bateson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG2 7PS, United Kingdom
Daniel L. Feltham
Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG2 7PS, United Kingdom
David Schröder
Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG2 7PS, United Kingdom
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
Yanan Wang
School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Byongjun Hwang
School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Jeff K. Ridley
Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, Met Office, Exeter, EX1 3PB, United Kingdom
Yevgeny Aksenov
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH,
United Kingdom
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As summer Arctic sea ice extent has retreated, the marginal ice zone (MIZ) has been widening and making up an increasing percentage of the summer sea ice. The MIZ is projected to become a larger percentage of the summer ice cover, as the Arctic transitions to ice-free summers. Using a sea ice model, we find that the processes and timing of sea ice loss differ in the MIZ to the rest of the sea cover. We also find the balance of processes within the MIZ changes over time as the sea ice retreats.
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Amy Solomon, Céline Heuzé, Benjamin Rabe, Sheldon Bacon, Laurent Bertino, Patrick Heimbach, Jun Inoue, Doroteaciro Iovino, Ruth Mottram, Xiangdong Zhang, Yevgeny Aksenov, Ronan McAdam, An Nguyen, Roshin P. Raj, and Han Tang
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Freshwater in the Arctic Ocean plays a critical role in the global climate system by impacting ocean circulations, stratification, mixing, and emergent regimes. In this review paper we assess how Arctic Ocean freshwater changed in the 2010s relative to the 2000s. Estimates from observations and reanalyses show a qualitative stabilization in the 2010s due to a compensation between a freshening of the Beaufort Gyre and a reduction in freshwater in the Amerasian and Eurasian basins.
Ann Keen, Ed Blockley, David A. Bailey, Jens Boldingh Debernard, Mitchell Bushuk, Steve Delhaye, David Docquier, Daniel Feltham, François Massonnet, Siobhan O'Farrell, Leandro Ponsoni, José M. Rodriguez, David Schroeder, Neil Swart, Takahiro Toyoda, Hiroyuki Tsujino, Martin Vancoppenolle, and Klaus Wyser
The Cryosphere, 15, 951–982, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-951-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-951-2021, 2021
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We compare the mass budget of the Arctic sea ice in a number of the latest climate models. New output has been defined that allows us to compare the processes of sea ice growth and loss in a more detailed way than has previously been possible. We find that that the models are strikingly similar in terms of the major processes causing the annual growth and loss of Arctic sea ice and that the budget terms respond in a broadly consistent way as the climate warms during the 21st century.
Masa Kageyama, Louise C. Sime, Marie Sicard, Maria-Vittoria Guarino, Anne de Vernal, Ruediger Stein, David Schroeder, Irene Malmierca-Vallet, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Cecilia Bitz, Pascale Braconnot, Esther C. Brady, Jian Cao, Matthew A. Chamberlain, Danny Feltham, Chuncheng Guo, Allegra N. LeGrande, Gerrit Lohmann, Katrin J. Meissner, Laurie Menviel, Polina Morozova, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Ryouta O'ishi, Silvana Ramos Buarque, David Salas y Melia, Sam Sherriff-Tadano, Julienne Stroeve, Xiaoxu Shi, Bo Sun, Robert A. Tomas, Evgeny Volodin, Nicholas K. H. Yeung, Qiong Zhang, Zhongshi Zhang, Weipeng Zheng, and Tilo Ziehn
Clim. Past, 17, 37–62, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-37-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-37-2021, 2021
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The Last interglacial (ca. 127 000 years ago) is a period with increased summer insolation at high northern latitudes, resulting in a strong reduction in Arctic sea ice. The latest PMIP4-CMIP6 models all simulate this decrease, consistent with reconstructions. However, neither the models nor the reconstructions agree on the possibility of a seasonally ice-free Arctic. Work to clarify the reasons for this model divergence and the conflicting interpretations of the records will thus be needed.
Rebecca J. Rolph, Daniel L. Feltham, and David Schröder
The Cryosphere, 14, 1971–1984, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1971-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1971-2020, 2020
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It is well known that the Arctic sea ice extent is declining, and it is often assumed that the marginal ice zone (MIZ), the area of partial sea ice cover, is consequently increasing. However, we find no trend in the MIZ extent during the last 40 years from observations that is consistent with a widening of the MIZ as it moves northward. Differences of MIZ extent between different satellite retrievals are too large to provide a robust basis to verify model simulations of MIZ extent.
Adam W. Bateson, Daniel L. Feltham, David Schröder, Lucia Hosekova, Jeff K. Ridley, and Yevgeny Aksenov
The Cryosphere, 14, 403–428, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-403-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-403-2020, 2020
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The Arctic sea ice cover has been observed to be decreasing, particularly in summer. We use numerical models to gain insight into processes controlling its seasonal and decadal evolution. Sea ice is made of pieces of ice called floes. Previous models have set these floes to be the same size, which is not supported by observations. In this study we show that accounting for variable floe size reveals the importance of sea ice regions close to the open ocean in driving seasonal retreat of sea ice.
Maria-Vittoria Guarino, Louise C. Sime, David Schroeder, Grenville M. S. Lister, and Rosalyn Hatcher
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 139–154, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-139-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-139-2020, 2020
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Alex West, Mat Collins, Ed Blockley, Jeff Ridley, and Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo
The Cryosphere, 13, 2001–2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2001-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2001-2019, 2019
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This study presents a framework for examining the causes of model errors in Arctic sea ice volume, using HadGEM2-ES as a case study. Simple models are used to estimate how much of the error in energy arriving at the ice surface is due to error in key Arctic climate variables. The method quantifies how each variable affects sea ice volume balance and shows that for HadGEM2-ES an annual mean low bias in ice thickness is likely due to errors in surface melt onset.
David Schröder, Danny L. Feltham, Michel Tsamados, Andy Ridout, and Rachel Tilling
The Cryosphere, 13, 125–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-125-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-125-2019, 2019
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This paper uses sea ice thickness data (CryoSat-2) to identify and correct shortcomings in simulating winter ice growth in the widely used sea ice model CICE. Adding a model of snow drift and using a different scheme for calculating the ice conductivity improve model results. Sensitivity studies demonstrate that atmospheric winter conditions have little impact on winter ice growth, and the fate of Arctic summer sea ice is largely controlled by atmospheric conditions during the melting season.
Sammie Buzzard, Daniel Feltham, and Daniela Flocco
The Cryosphere, 12, 3565–3575, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3565-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3565-2018, 2018
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Surface lakes on ice shelves can not only change the amount of solar energy the ice shelf receives, but may also play a pivotal role in sudden ice shelf collapse such as that of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in 2002.
Here we simulate current and future melting on Larsen C, Antarctica’s most northern ice shelf and one on which lakes have been observed. We find that should future lakes occur closer to the ice shelf front, they may contain sufficient meltwater to contribute to ice shelf instability.
Jeff K. Ridley and Edward W. Blockley
The Cryosphere, 12, 3355–3360, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3355-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3355-2018, 2018
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The climate change conference held in Paris in 2016 made a commitment to limiting global-mean warming since the pre-industrial era to well below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit the warming to 1.5 °C. Since global warming is already at 1 °C, the 1.5 °C can only be achieved at considerable cost. It is thus important to assess the risks associated with the higher target. This paper shows that the decline of Arctic sea ice, and associated impacts, can only be halted with the 1.5 °C target.
David Storkey, Adam T. Blaker, Pierre Mathiot, Alex Megann, Yevgeny Aksenov, Edward W. Blockley, Daley Calvert, Tim Graham, Helene T. Hewitt, Patrick Hyder, Till Kuhlbrodt, Jamie G. L. Rae, and Bablu Sinha
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 3187–3213, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-3187-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-3187-2018, 2018
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We document the latest version of the shared UK global configuration of the
NEMO ocean model. This configuration will be used as part of the climate
models for the UK contribution to the IPCC 6th Assessment Report.
30-year integrations forced with atmospheric forcing show that the new
configurations have an improved simulation in the Southern Ocean with the
near-surface temperatures and salinities and the sea ice all matching the
observations more closely.
Julienne C. Stroeve, David Schroder, Michel Tsamados, and Daniel Feltham
The Cryosphere, 12, 1791–1809, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1791-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1791-2018, 2018
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This paper looks at the impact of the warm winter and anomalously low number of total freezing degree days during winter 2016/2017 on thermodynamic ice growth and overall thickness anomalies. The approach relies on evaluation of satellite data (CryoSat-2) and model output. While there is a negative feedback between rapid ice growth for thin ice, with thermodynamic ice growth increasing over time, since 2012 that relationship is changing, in part because the freeze-up is happening later.
Fabrice Ardhuin, Yevgueny Aksenov, Alvise Benetazzo, Laurent Bertino, Peter Brandt, Eric Caubet, Bertrand Chapron, Fabrice Collard, Sophie Cravatte, Jean-Marc Delouis, Frederic Dias, Gérald Dibarboure, Lucile Gaultier, Johnny Johannessen, Anton Korosov, Georgy Manucharyan, Dimitris Menemenlis, Melisa Menendez, Goulven Monnier, Alexis Mouche, Frédéric Nouguier, George Nurser, Pierre Rampal, Ad Reniers, Ernesto Rodriguez, Justin Stopa, Céline Tison, Clément Ubelmann, Erik van Sebille, and Jiping Xie
Ocean Sci., 14, 337–354, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-337-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-337-2018, 2018
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The Sea surface KInematics Multiscale (SKIM) monitoring mission is a proposal for a future satellite that is designed to measure ocean currents and waves. Using a Doppler radar, the accurate measurement of currents requires the removal of the mean velocity due to ocean wave motions. This paper describes the main processing steps needed to produce currents and wave data from the radar measurements. With this technique, SKIM can provide unprecedented coverage and resolution, over the global ocean.
Jeff K. Ridley, Edward W. Blockley, Ann B. Keen, Jamie G. L. Rae, Alex E. West, and David Schroeder
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 713–723, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-713-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-713-2018, 2018
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The sea ice component of the Met Office coupled climate model, HadGEM3-GC3.1, is presented and evaluated. We determine that the mean state of the sea ice is well reproduced for the Arctic; however, a warm sea surface temperature bias over the Southern Ocean results in a low Antarctic sea ice cover.
Jamie G. L. Rae, Alexander D. Todd, Edward W. Blockley, and Jeff K. Ridley
The Cryosphere, 11, 3023–3034, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-3023-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-3023-2017, 2017
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Several studies have highlighted links between Arctic summer storms and September sea ice extent in observations. Here we use model and reanalysis data to investigate the sensitivity of such links to the analytical methods used, in order to determine their robustness. The links were found to depend on the resolution of the model and dataset, the method used to identify storms and the time period used in the analysis. We therefore recommend caution when interpreting the results of such studies.
Alek A. Petty, Michel C. Tsamados, Nathan T. Kurtz, Sinead L. Farrell, Thomas Newman, Jeremy P. Harbeck, Daniel L. Feltham, and Jackie A. Richter-Menge
The Cryosphere, 10, 1161–1179, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1161-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1161-2016, 2016
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This study presents an analysis of Arctic sea ice topography using high-resolution, three-dimensional surface elevation data from the Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) laser altimeter, flown as part of NASA's Operation IceBridge mission. We describe and implement a newly developed sea ice surface feature-picking algorithm and derive novel information regarding the height, volume and geometry of surface features over the western Arctic sea ice cover.
Daniela Flocco, Daniel L. Feltham, David Schroeder, and Michel Tsamados
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-118, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-118, 2016
Preprint withdrawn
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Melt ponds form over the sea ice cover in the Arctic and impact the surface albedo inducing a positive feedback leading to further melting.
While they refreeze, ponds delay basal sea ice growth in Autumn impacting the internal sea ice temperature and therefore its basal growth rate. By using a numerical model we estimate an inhibited basal growth of up to 228 km3, which represents 25 % of the basal sea ice growth estimated by PIOMAS during the months of September and October.
J. K. Ridley, R. A. Wood, A. B. Keen, E. Blockley, and J. A. Lowe
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-28, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-28, 2016
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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The internal variability in model projections of Arctic sea ice extent is high. As a consequence an ensemble of projections from a single model can show considerable scatter in the range of dates for an "ice-free" Arctic. This paper investigates if the scatter can be reduced for a variety of definitions of "ice-free". Daily GCM data reveals that only a high emissions scenario results in the optimal definition of five conservative years in with ice extent is below one million square kilometer.
C. Heuzé, J. K. Ridley, D. Calvert, D. P. Stevens, and K. J. Heywood
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 3119–3130, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3119-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3119-2015, 2015
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Most ocean models, including NEMO, have unrealistic Southern Ocean deep convection. That is, through extensive areas of the Southern Ocean, they exhibit convection from the surface of the ocean to the sea floor. We find this convection to be an issue as it impacts the whole ocean circulation, notably strengthening the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Using sensitivity experiments, we show that counter-intuitively the vertical mixing needs to be enhanced to reduce this spurious convection.
J. G. L. Rae, H. T. Hewitt, A. B. Keen, J. K. Ridley, A. E. West, C. M. Harris, E. C. Hunke, and D. N. Walters
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2221–2230, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2221-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2221-2015, 2015
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The paper presents a new sea ice configuration, GSI6.0, in the Met Office coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice model. Differences in the sea ice from a previous configuration (GSI4.0) are explained in the context of a previously published sensitivity study. In summer, Arctic sea ice is thicker and more extensive than in GSI4.0, bringing it closer to the observationally derived data sets. In winter, the Arctic ice is thicker but less extensive than in GSI4.0.
R. Marsh, V. O. Ivchenko, N. Skliris, S. Alderson, G. R. Bigg, G. Madec, A. T. Blaker, Y. Aksenov, B. Sinha, A. C. Coward, J. Le Sommer, N. Merino, and V. B. Zalesny
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 1547–1562, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1547-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1547-2015, 2015
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Calved icebergs account for around 50% of total freshwater input to the ocean from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. As they melt, icebergs interact with the ocean. We have developed and tested interactive icebergs in a state-of-the-art global ocean model, showing how sea ice, temperatures, and currents are disturbed by iceberg melting. With this new model capability, we are better prepared to predict how future increases in iceberg numbers might influence the oceans and climate.
I. A. Dmitrenko, S. A. Kirillov, N. Serra, N. V. Koldunov, V. V. Ivanov, U. Schauer, I. V. Polyakov, D. Barber, M. Janout, V. S. Lien, M. Makhotin, and Y. Aksenov
Ocean Sci., 10, 719–730, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-719-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-719-2014, 2014
T. Howard, A. K. Pardaens, J. L. Bamber, J. Ridley, G. Spada, R. T. W. L. Hurkmans, J. A. Lowe, and D. Vaughan
Ocean Sci., 10, 473–483, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-473-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-473-2014, 2014
T. Howard, J. Ridley, A. K. Pardaens, R. T. W. L. Hurkmans, A. J. Payne, R. H. Giesen, J. A. Lowe, J. L. Bamber, T. L. Edwards, and J. Oerlemans
Ocean Sci., 10, 485–500, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-485-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-485-2014, 2014
A. Megann, D. Storkey, Y. Aksenov, S. Alderson, D. Calvert, T. Graham, P. Hyder, J. Siddorn, and B. Sinha
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 1069–1092, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1069-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1069-2014, 2014
A. A. Petty, P. R. Holland, and D. L. Feltham
The Cryosphere, 8, 761–783, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-761-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-761-2014, 2014
F. Wobus, G. I. Shapiro, J. M. Huthnance, M. A. M. Maqueda, and Y. Aksenov
Ocean Sci., 9, 885–899, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-885-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-885-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Discipline: Sea ice | Subject: Numerical Modelling
A hybrid ice-mélange model based on particle and continuum methods
Combining observational data and numerical models to obtain a seamless high temporal resolution seasonal cycle of snow and ice mass balance at the MOSAiC Central Observatory
How many parameters are needed to represent polar sea ice surface patterns and heterogeneity?
Exploring non-Gaussian sea ice characteristics via observing system simulation experiments
Past and future of the Arctic sea ice in High-Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) climate models
Data-driven surrogate modeling of high-resolution sea-ice thickness in the Arctic
Using Icepack to reproduce ice mass balance buoy observations in landfast ice: improvements from the mushy-layer thermodynamics
Understanding the influence of ocean waves on Arctic sea ice simulation: a modeling study with an atmosphere–ocean–wave–sea ice coupled model
Sea ice cover in the Copernicus Arctic Regional Reanalysis
Smoothed particle hydrodynamics implementation of the standard viscous–plastic sea-ice model and validation in simple idealized experiments
Phase-field models of floe fracture in sea ice
The effect of partial dissolution on sea-ice chemical transport: a combined model–observational study using poly- and perfluoroalkylated substances (PFASs)
Deep learning subgrid-scale parametrisations for short-term forecasting of sea-ice dynamics with a Maxwell elasto-brittle rheology
Impact of atmospheric forcing uncertainties on Arctic and Antarctic sea ice simulations in CMIP6 OMIP models
Arctic sea ice mass balance in a new coupled ice–ocean model using a brittle rheology framework
Wave-triggered breakup in the marginal ice zone generates lognormal floe size distributions: a simulation study
Exploring the capabilities of electrical resistivity tomography to study subsea permafrost
A probabilistic seabed–ice keel interaction model
The effect of changing sea ice on wave climate trends along Alaska's central Beaufort Sea coast
Arctic sea ice anomalies during the MOSAiC winter 2019/20
Edge displacement scores
Toward a method for downscaling sea ice pressure for navigation purposes
The Arctic Ocean Observation Operator for 6.9 GHz (ARC3O) – Part 1: How to obtain sea ice brightness temperatures at 6.9 GHz from climate model output
The Arctic Ocean Observation Operator for 6.9 GHz (ARC3O) – Part 2: Development and evaluation
Feature-based comparison of sea ice deformation in lead-permitting sea ice simulations
Wave energy attenuation in fields of colliding ice floes – Part 1: Discrete-element modelling of dissipation due to ice–water drag
Validation of the sea ice surface albedo scheme of the regional climate model HIRHAM–NAOSIM using aircraft measurements during the ACLOUD/PASCAL campaigns
Simulating intersection angles between conjugate faults in sea ice with different viscous–plastic rheologies
IcePAC – a probabilistic tool to study sea ice spatio-temporal dynamics: application to the Hudson Bay area
New insight from CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness for sea ice modelling
Investigating future changes in the volume budget of the Arctic sea ice in a coupled climate model
Medium-range predictability of early summer sea ice thickness distribution in the East Siberian Sea based on the TOPAZ4 ice–ocean data assimilation system
Saskia Kahl, Carolin Mehlmann, and Dirk Notz
The Cryosphere, 19, 129–141, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-129-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-129-2025, 2025
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Ice mélange, a mixture of sea ice and icebergs, can impact sea-ice–ocean interactions. But climate models do not yet represent it due to computational limits. To address this shortcoming and include ice mélange into climate models, we suggest representing icebergs as particles. We integrate their feedback into mathematical equations used to model the sea-ice motion in climate models. The setup is computationally efficient due to the iceberg particle usage and enables a realistic representation.
Polona Itkin and Glen E. Liston
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3402, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3402, 2024
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The MOSAiC project provided a year of observations of Arctic snow and sea ice, though some data were interrupted, especially during summer melt onset. We developed a data-model fusion system to produce continuous, high-resolution time series of snow and sea ice parameters. On all three analyzed three ice types snow redistribution correlated with sea ice deformation and level ice thickness was governed by the thinnest fraction of snow cover.
Joseph Fogarty, Elie Bou-Zeid, Mitchell Bushuk, and Linette Boisvert
The Cryosphere, 18, 4335–4354, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4335-2024, 2024
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We hypothesize that using a broad set of surface characterization metrics for polar sea ice surfaces will lead to more accurate representations in general circulation models. However, the first step is to identify the minimum set of metrics required. We show via numerical simulations that sea ice surface patterns can play a crucial role in determining boundary layer structures. We then statistically analyze a set of high-resolution sea ice surface images to obtain this minimal set of parameters.
Christopher Riedel and Jeffrey Anderson
The Cryosphere, 18, 2875–2896, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2875-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2875-2024, 2024
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Accurate sea ice conditions are crucial for quality sea ice projections, which have been connected to rapid warming over the Arctic. Knowing which observations to assimilate into models will help produce more accurate sea ice conditions. We found that not assimilating sea ice concentration led to more accurate sea ice states. The methods typically used to assimilate observations in our models apply assumptions to variables that are not well suited for sea ice because they are bounded variables.
Julia Selivanova, Doroteaciro Iovino, and Francesco Cocetta
The Cryosphere, 18, 2739–2763, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2739-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2739-2024, 2024
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Climate models show differences in sea ice representation in comparison to observations. Increasing the model resolution is a recognized way to improve model realism and obtain more reliable future projections. We find no strong impact of resolution on sea ice representation; it rather depends on the analysed variable and the model used. By 2050, the marginal ice zone (MIZ) becomes a dominant feature of the Arctic ice cover, suggesting a shift to a new regime similar to that in Antarctica.
Charlotte Durand, Tobias Sebastian Finn, Alban Farchi, Marc Bocquet, Guillaume Boutin, and Einar Ólason
The Cryosphere, 18, 1791–1815, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1791-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1791-2024, 2024
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This paper focuses on predicting Arctic-wide sea-ice thickness using surrogate modeling with deep learning. The model has a predictive power of 12 h up to 6 months. For this forecast horizon, persistence and daily climatology are systematically outperformed, a result of learned thermodynamics and advection. Consequently, surrogate modeling with deep learning proves to be effective at capturing the complex behavior of sea ice.
Mathieu Plante, Jean-François Lemieux, L. Bruno Tremblay, Adrienne Tivy, Joey Angnatok, François Roy, Gregory Smith, Frédéric Dupont, and Adrian K. Turner
The Cryosphere, 18, 1685–1708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1685-2024, 2024
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We use a sea ice model to reproduce ice growth observations from two buoys deployed on coastal sea ice and analyze the improvements brought by new physics that represent the presence of saline liquid water in the ice interior. We find that the new physics with default parameters degrade the model performance, with overly rapid ice growth and overly early snow flooding on top of the ice. The performance is largely improved by simple modifications to the ice growth and snow-flooding algorithms.
Chao-Yuan Yang, Jiping Liu, and Dake Chen
The Cryosphere, 18, 1215–1239, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1215-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1215-2024, 2024
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We present a new atmosphere–ocean–wave–sea ice coupled model to study the influences of ocean waves on Arctic sea ice simulation. Our results show (1) smaller ice-floe size with wave breaking increases ice melt, (2) the responses in the atmosphere and ocean to smaller floe size partially reduce the effect of the enhanced ice melt, (3) the limited oceanic energy is a strong constraint for ice melt enhancement, and (4) ocean waves can indirectly affect sea ice through the atmosphere and the ocean.
Yurii Batrak, Bin Cheng, and Viivi Kallio-Myers
The Cryosphere, 18, 1157–1183, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1157-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1157-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric reanalyses provide consistent series of atmospheric and surface parameters in a convenient gridded form. In this paper, we study the quality of sea ice in a recently released regional reanalysis and assess its added value compared to a global reanalysis. We show that the regional reanalysis, having a more complex sea ice model, gives an improved representation of sea ice, although there are limitations indicating potential benefits in using more advanced approaches in the future.
Oreste Marquis, Bruno Tremblay, Jean-François Lemieux, and Mohammed Islam
The Cryosphere, 18, 1013–1032, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1013-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1013-2024, 2024
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We developed a standard viscous–plastic sea-ice model based on the numerical framework called smoothed particle hydrodynamics. The model conforms to the theory within an error of 1 % in an idealized ridging experiment, and it is able to simulate stable ice arches. However, the method creates a dispersive plastic wave speed. The framework is efficient to simulate fractures and can take full advantage of parallelization, making it a good candidate to investigate sea-ice material properties.
Huy Dinh, Dimitrios Giannakis, Joanna Slawinska, and Georg Stadler
The Cryosphere, 17, 3883–3893, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3883-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3883-2023, 2023
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We develop a numerical method to simulate the fracture in kilometer-sized chunks of floating ice in the ocean. Our approach uses a mathematical model that balances deformation energy against the energy required for fracture. We study the strength of ice chunks that contain random impurities due to prior damage or refreezing and what types of fractures are likely to occur. Our model shows that crack direction critically depends on the orientation of impurities relative to surrounding forces.
Max Thomas, Briana Cate, Jack Garnett, Inga J. Smith, Martin Vancoppenolle, and Crispin Halsall
The Cryosphere, 17, 3193–3201, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3193-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3193-2023, 2023
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A recent study showed that pollutants can be enriched in growing sea ice beyond what we would expect from a perfectly dissolved chemical. We hypothesise that this effect is caused by the specific properties of the pollutants working in combination with fluid moving through the sea ice. To test our hypothesis, we replicate this behaviour in a sea-ice model and show that this type of modelling can be applied to predicting the transport of chemicals with complex behaviour in sea ice.
Tobias Sebastian Finn, Charlotte Durand, Alban Farchi, Marc Bocquet, Yumeng Chen, Alberto Carrassi, and Véronique Dansereau
The Cryosphere, 17, 2965–2991, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2965-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2965-2023, 2023
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We combine deep learning with a regional sea-ice model to correct model errors in the sea-ice dynamics of low-resolution forecasts towards high-resolution simulations. The combined model improves the forecast by up to 75 % and thereby surpasses the performance of persistence. As the error connection can additionally be used to analyse the shortcomings of the forecasts, this study highlights the potential of combined modelling for short-term sea-ice forecasting.
Xia Lin, François Massonnet, Thierry Fichefet, and Martin Vancoppenolle
The Cryosphere, 17, 1935–1965, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1935-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1935-2023, 2023
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This study provides clues on how improved atmospheric reanalysis products influence sea ice simulations in ocean–sea ice models. The summer ice concentration simulation in both hemispheres can be improved with changed surface heat fluxes. The winter Antarctic ice concentration and the Arctic drift speed near the ice edge and the ice velocity direction simulations are improved with changed wind stress. The radiation fluxes and winds in atmospheric reanalyses are crucial for sea ice simulations.
Guillaume Boutin, Einar Ólason, Pierre Rampal, Heather Regan, Camille Lique, Claude Talandier, Laurent Brodeau, and Robert Ricker
The Cryosphere, 17, 617–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, 2023
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Sea ice cover in the Arctic is full of cracks, which we call leads. We suspect that these leads play a role for atmosphere–ocean interactions in polar regions, but their importance remains challenging to estimate. We use a new ocean–sea ice model with an original way of representing sea ice dynamics to estimate their impact on winter sea ice production. This model successfully represents sea ice evolution from 2000 to 2018, and we find that about 30 % of ice production takes place in leads.
Nicolas Guillaume Alexandre Mokus and Fabien Montiel
The Cryosphere, 16, 4447–4472, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4447-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4447-2022, 2022
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On the fringes of polar oceans, sea ice is easily broken by waves. As small pieces of ice, or floes, are more easily melted by the warming waters than a continuous ice cover, it is important to incorporate these floe sizes in climate models. These models simulate climate evolution at the century scale and are built by combining specialised modules. We study the statistical distribution of floe sizes under the impact of waves to better understand how to connect sea ice modules to wave modules.
Mauricio Arboleda-Zapata, Michael Angelopoulos, Pier Paul Overduin, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, and Jens Tronicke
The Cryosphere, 16, 4423–4445, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4423-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4423-2022, 2022
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We demonstrate how we can reliably estimate the thawed–frozen permafrost interface with its associated uncertainties in subsea permafrost environments using 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data. In addition, we show how further analyses considering 1D inversion and sensitivity assessments can help quantify and better understand 2D ERT inversion results. Our results illustrate the capabilities of the ERT method to get insights into the development of the subsea permafrost.
Frédéric Dupont, Dany Dumont, Jean-François Lemieux, Elie Dumas-Lefebvre, and Alain Caya
The Cryosphere, 16, 1963–1977, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1963-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1963-2022, 2022
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In some shallow seas, grounded ice ridges contribute to stabilizing and maintaining a landfast ice cover. A scheme has already proposed where the keel thickness varies linearly with the mean thickness. Here, we extend the approach by taking into account the ice thickness and bathymetry distributions. The probabilistic approach shows a reasonably good agreement with observations and previous grounding scheme while potentially offering more physical insights into the formation of landfast ice.
Kees Nederhoff, Li Erikson, Anita Engelstad, Peter Bieniek, and Jeremy Kasper
The Cryosphere, 16, 1609–1629, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1609-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1609-2022, 2022
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Diminishing sea ice is impacting waves across the Arctic region. Recent work shows the effect of the sea ice on offshore waves; however, effects within the nearshore are less known. This study characterizes the wave climate in the central Beaufort Sea coast of Alaska. We show that the reduction of sea ice correlates strongly with increases in the average and extreme waves. However, found trends deviate from offshore, since part of the increase in energy is dissipated before reaching the shore.
Klaus Dethloff, Wieslaw Maslowski, Stefan Hendricks, Younjoo J. Lee, Helge F. Goessling, Thomas Krumpen, Christian Haas, Dörthe Handorf, Robert Ricker, Vladimir Bessonov, John J. Cassano, Jaclyn Clement Kinney, Robert Osinski, Markus Rex, Annette Rinke, Julia Sokolova, and Anja Sommerfeld
The Cryosphere, 16, 981–1005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, 2022
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Sea ice thickness anomalies during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) winter in January, February and March 2020 were simulated with the coupled Regional Arctic climate System Model (RASM) and compared with CryoSat-2/SMOS satellite data. Hindcast and ensemble simulations indicate that the sea ice anomalies are driven by nonlinear interactions between ice growth processes and wind-driven sea-ice transports, with dynamics playing a dominant role.
Arne Melsom
The Cryosphere, 15, 3785–3796, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3785-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3785-2021, 2021
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This study presents new methods to assess how well observations of sea ice expansion are reproduced by results from models. The aim is to provide information about the quality of forecasts for changes in the sea ice extent to operators in or near ice-infested waters. A test using 2 years of model results demonstrates the practical applicability and usefulness of the methods that are presented.
Jean-François Lemieux, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Mathieu Plante
The Cryosphere, 14, 3465–3478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3465-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3465-2020, 2020
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Sea ice pressure poses great risk for navigation; it can lead to ship besetting and damages. Sea ice forecasting systems can predict the evolution of pressure. However, these systems have low spatial resolution (a few km) compared to the dimensions of ships. We study the downscaling of pressure from the km-scale to scales relevant for navigation. We find that the pressure applied on a ship beset in heavy ice conditions can be markedly larger than the pressure predicted by the forecasting system.
Clara Burgard, Dirk Notz, Leif T. Pedersen, and Rasmus T. Tonboe
The Cryosphere, 14, 2369–2386, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2369-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2369-2020, 2020
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The high disagreement between observations of Arctic sea ice makes it difficult to evaluate climate models with observations. We investigate the possibility of translating the model state into what a satellite could observe. We find that we do not need complex information about the vertical distribution of temperature and salinity inside the ice but instead are able to assume simplified distributions to reasonably translate the simulated sea ice into satellite
language.
Clara Burgard, Dirk Notz, Leif T. Pedersen, and Rasmus T. Tonboe
The Cryosphere, 14, 2387–2407, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2387-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2387-2020, 2020
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The high disagreement between observations of Arctic sea ice inhibits the evaluation of climate models with observations. We develop a tool that translates the simulated Arctic Ocean state into what a satellite could observe from space in the form of brightness temperatures, a measure for the radiation emitted by the surface. We find that the simulated brightness temperatures compare well with the observed brightness temperatures. This tool brings a new perspective for climate model evaluation.
Nils Hutter and Martin Losch
The Cryosphere, 14, 93–113, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-93-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-93-2020, 2020
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Sea ice is composed of a multitude of floes that constantly deform due to wind and ocean currents and thereby form leads and pressure ridges. These features are visible in the ice as stripes of open-ocean or high-piled ice. High-resolution sea ice models start to resolve these deformation features. In this paper we present two simulations that agree with satellite data according to a new evaluation metric that detects deformation features and compares their spatial and temporal characteristics.
Agnieszka Herman, Sukun Cheng, and Hayley H. Shen
The Cryosphere, 13, 2887–2900, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2887-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2887-2019, 2019
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Sea ice interactions with waves are extensively studied in recent years, but mechanisms leading to wave energy attenuation in sea ice remain poorly understood. Close to the ice edge, processes contributing to dissipation include collisions between ice floes and turbulence generated under the ice due to velocity differences between ice and water. This paper analyses details of those processes both theoretically and by means of a numerical model.
Evelyn Jäkel, Johannes Stapf, Manfred Wendisch, Marcel Nicolaus, Wolfgang Dorn, and Annette Rinke
The Cryosphere, 13, 1695–1708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1695-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1695-2019, 2019
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The sea ice surface albedo parameterization of a coupled regional climate model was validated against aircraft measurements performed in May–June 2017 north of Svalbard. The albedo parameterization was run offline from the model using the measured parameters surface temperature and snow depth to calculate the surface albedo and the individual fractions of the ice surface subtypes. An adjustment of the variables and additionally accounting for cloud cover reduced the root-mean-squared error.
Damien Ringeisen, Martin Losch, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Nils Hutter
The Cryosphere, 13, 1167–1186, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1167-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1167-2019, 2019
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We study the creation of fracture in sea ice plastic models. To do this, we compress an ideal piece of ice of 8 km by 25 km. We use two different mathematical expressions defining the resistance of ice. We find that the most common one is unable to model the fracture correctly, while the other gives better results but brings instabilities. The results are often in opposition with ice granular nature (e.g., sand) and call for changes in ice modeling.
Charles Gignac, Monique Bernier, and Karem Chokmani
The Cryosphere, 13, 451–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-451-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-451-2019, 2019
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The IcePAC tool is made to estimate the probabilities of specific sea ice conditions based on historical sea ice concentration time series from the EUMETSAT OSI-409 product (12.5 km grid), modelled using the beta distribution and used to build event probability maps, which have been unavailable until now. Compared to the Canadian ice service atlas, IcePAC showed promising results in the Hudson Bay, paving the way for its usage in other regions of the cryosphere to inform stakeholders' decisions.
David Schröder, Danny L. Feltham, Michel Tsamados, Andy Ridout, and Rachel Tilling
The Cryosphere, 13, 125–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-125-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-125-2019, 2019
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This paper uses sea ice thickness data (CryoSat-2) to identify and correct shortcomings in simulating winter ice growth in the widely used sea ice model CICE. Adding a model of snow drift and using a different scheme for calculating the ice conductivity improve model results. Sensitivity studies demonstrate that atmospheric winter conditions have little impact on winter ice growth, and the fate of Arctic summer sea ice is largely controlled by atmospheric conditions during the melting season.
Ann Keen and Ed Blockley
The Cryosphere, 12, 2855–2868, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2855-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2855-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
As the climate warms during the 21st century, our model shows extra melting at the top and the base of the Arctic sea ice. The reducing ice cover affects the impact these processes have on the sea ice volume budget, where the largest individual change is a reduction in the amount of growth at the base of existing ice. Using different forcing scenarios we show that, for this model, changes in the volume budget depend on the evolving ice area but not on the speed at which the ice area declines.
Takuya Nakanowatari, Jun Inoue, Kazutoshi Sato, Laurent Bertino, Jiping Xie, Mio Matsueda, Akio Yamagami, Takeshi Sugimura, Hironori Yabuki, and Natsuhiko Otsuka
The Cryosphere, 12, 2005–2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2005-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2005-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Medium-range predictability of early summer sea ice thickness in the East Siberian Sea was examined, based on TOPAZ4 forecast data. Statistical examination indicates that the estimate drops abruptly at 4 days, which is related to dynamical process controlled by synoptic-scale atmospheric fluctuations such as an Arctic cyclone. For longer lead times (> 4 days), the thermodynamic melting process takes over, which represents most of the remaining prediction.
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Short summary
Numerical models are used to understand the mechanisms that drive the evolution of the Arctic sea ice cover. The sea ice cover is formed of pieces of ice called floes. Several recent studies have proposed variable floe size models to replace the standard model assumption of a fixed floe size. In this study we show the need to include floe fragmentation processes in these variable floe size models and demonstrate that model design can determine the impact of floe size on size ice evolution.
Numerical models are used to understand the mechanisms that drive the evolution of the Arctic...
