Brief communication: Intercomparison study reveals pathways for improving the representation of sea-ice biogeochemistry in models

Tedesco, Letizia; Castellani, Giulia; Duarte, Pedro; Jin, Meibing; Moreau, Sebastien; Mortenson, Eric; Saenz, Benjamin Tobey; Steiner, Nadja; Vancoppenolle, Martin

doi:10.5194/tc-20-723-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-723-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-723-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 1

Brief communication

|

28 Jan 2026

Brief communication |

| 28 Jan 2026

Brief communication: Intercomparison study reveals pathways for improving the representation of sea-ice biogeochemistry in models

Letizia Tedesco, Giulia Castellani, Pedro Duarte, Meibing Jin, Sebastien Moreau, Eric Mortenson, Benjamin Tobey Saenz, Nadja Steiner, and Martin Vancoppenolle

Data sets

N-ICE2015 sea-ice biogeochemistry model simulations: input data, boundary conditions, and outputs L. Tedesco et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18053496

Model code and software

BFM-SI and ESIM model codes for sea-ice physics and biogeochemistry simulations of N-ICE2015 L. Tedesco https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18050331

CICE-Consortium/CICE: CICE with bottom drag, heat and nutrient turbulent diffusion (1.1) P. Duarte https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4675097

CICE-Consortium/Icepack: Icepack with bottom drag, heat and nutrient turbulent diffusion (1.1) P. Duarte https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4675021

GOTM-FABM-based 1D coupled sea ice-ocean physical-biogeochemical model and its test case for Resolute H. Hayashida et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.825274

SIMBA - 1D Model intercomparison G. Castellani https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17979962

blsaenz/SIESTA: SIESTA - model intercomparison (v0.9.0) B. T. Saenz https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18330005

Short summary

Sea ice hosts tiny algae that support polar marine life, yet their growth remains challenging to simulate. We tested six computer models using data from a 2015 Arctic drifting ice expedition to see how well they reproduced spring algae blooms and nutrient changes. While tuning helped models better match algae growth, nutrients remained difficult to capture. Our results highlight key challenges in representing fragile sea‑ice habitats that are expected to become more common as the Arctic warms.