Modeling the seasonal variation of sea ice in the Labrador Sea with a coupled multicategory ice model and the Princeton ocean model

Abstract

Abstract. We use a multicategory sea ice model coupled to the Princeton ocean model, which is driven by monthly climatological atmospheric forcing, to study the seasonal variation of ice cover in the Labrador Sea. Initial ocean conditions are derived from a gridded, objectively analyzed temperature-salinity data set that provides improved resolution of gradients in the vicinity of the shelf break. The model produces a realistic seasonal variation of sea ice. There is ice growth over the inner shelf and ice melt over the outer shelf and slope. Over the inner shelf, advection and diffusion decrease the ice mass; over the outer shelf, advection and diffusion increase the ice mass, which maintains the location of the ice edge. Near the offshore ice edge the melt rate exceeds 1 m per month, and the heat to melt ice together with the heat lost to the atmosphere exceeds 500 W m -2. The heat lost at the ocean surface is compensated for by advection of heat from an offshore convective region. The dominant heat source for the spring retreat of ice in the south is shortwave radiation over the open water fraction. In this study we investigate the seasonal evolution of sea ice over the Labrador shelf with a coupled ice-ocean model. Our objective is to assess the capability of the model in simulating the evolution of the ice cover and to identify model deficiencies. We examine the processes that limit the ice extent.Labrador sea ice has been the subject of a number of studies with numerical models.

Abrupt Climate Changes and Emerging Ice-Ocean Processes in the Pacific Arctic Region and the Bering Sea

“…For a detailed description of development of the CIOM, readers should refer to Yao et al (2000) and Wang et al (2002Wang et al ( , 2010, which was applied to the pan-Arctic Ocean (Wang et al , 2005aWu et al 2004;Long et al 2012), Chukchi-Beaufort seas , and the Bering Sea (Wang et al 2009b;Hu and Wang 2010;Hu et al 2011). The ocean model used is the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) (Blumberg and Mellor 1987), and the ice model used is a full thermodynamic and dynamics model (Hibler 1979(Hibler , 1980) that prognostically simulates sea-ice thickness, sea ice concentration (SIC), ice edge, ice velocity, and heat and salt flux through sea ice into the ocean.…”

Short-term changes in chlorophyll distribution in response to a moving storm: a modelling study

“…The vertical eddy viscosity is parameterized by a mixing length, the turbulence kinetic energy, and a stability factor which depends on the vertical shear and buoyancy. The setup of the model has been described in detail by Yao et al (2000) and Wu et al (unpubl.). The model domain is from 40°N to 66°N and from the Canadian east coast to 40°W, with a horizontal resolution of approximately 20 km × 20 km (Fig.…”

Three‐dimensional simulation of lake and ice dynamics during winter

“…They approximated the hydrodynamic transport of heat by lake currents by computing a steady-state current field using a vertically integrated equation of motion (Wake and Rumer 1979). Recently Yao et al (2000) coupled the 3D Princeton Ocean Model (POM) with the ice thermodynamics formulation of Hibler (1980), driven by monthly atmospheric forcing. Wang et al (2010) used the similar approach of Yao et al (2000) for simulation of ice and water circulation in Lake Erie for [2003][2004].…”

“…Recently Yao et al (2000) coupled the 3D Princeton Ocean Model (POM) with the ice thermodynamics formulation of Hibler (1980), driven by monthly atmospheric forcing. Wang et al (2010) used the similar approach of Yao et al (2000) for simulation of ice and water circulation in Lake Erie for [2003][2004]. These models coupled ice formation with POM, allowing for dynamic advection of ice.…”