Articles | Volume 20, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-3795-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-3795-2026
Research article
 | 
08 Jul 2026
Research article |  | 08 Jul 2026

Enhanced prediction skill of Antarctic sea ice through sea ice thickness assimilation

Nicholas Williams, Yiguo Wang, and François Counillon

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Cited articles

Bentsen, M., Bethke, I., Debernard, J. B., Iversen, T., Kirkevåg, A., Seland, Ø., Drange, H., Roelandt, C., Seierstad, I. A., Hoose, C., and Kristjánsson, J. E.: The Norwegian Earth System Model, NorESM1-M – Part 1: Description and basic evaluation of the physical climate, Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 687–720, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-687-2013, 2013. a, b
Bethke, I., Wang, Y., Counillon, F., Keenlyside, N., Kimmritz, M., Fransner, F., Samuelsen, A., Langehaug, H., Svendsen, L., Chiu, P.-G., Passos, L., Bentsen, M., Guo, C., Gupta, A., Tjiputra, J., Kirkevåg, A., Olivié, D., Seland, Ø., Solsvik Vågane, J., Fan, Y., and Eldevik, T.: NorCPM1 and its contribution to CMIP6 DCPP, Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 7073–7116, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7073-2021, 2021. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
Bitz, C. M. and Lipscomb, W. H.: An energy-conserving thermodynamic model of sea ice, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 104, 15669–15677, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC900100, 1999. a
Bitz, C. M., Holland, M. M., Weaver, A. J., and Eby, M.: Simulating the ice-thickness distribution in a coupled climate model, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 106, 2441–2463, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC000113, 2001. a
Bocquet, M., Fleury, S., Piras, F., Rinne, E., Sallila, H., Garnier, F., and Rémy, F.: Arctic sea ice radar freeboard retrieval from the European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS-2) using altimetry: toward sea ice thickness observation from 1995 to 2021, The Cryosphere, 17, 3013–3039, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3013-2023, 2023. a, b, c
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Short summary
This study investigates whether assimilating sea ice thickness observations into a global climate model can improve reanalysis and seasonal prediction skill of the Antarctic sea ice. We found that assimilation of sea ice thickness improves the representation of sea ice variability, especially in western Antarctica. We also show that initialisation of predictions with sea ice thickness data assimilation can improve forecasts of sea ice concentration, extent and thickness in summer and autumn.
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