Ocean Circulation: Its Effects on Seasonal Sea-Ice Simulations

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Hibler, W. D., Bryan, Kirk
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1984
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.224.4648.489; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.224.4648.489

A diagnostic ice-ocean model of the Arctic, Greenland, and Norwegian seas is constructed and used to examine the role of ocean circulation in seasonal sea-ice simulations. The model includes lateral ice motion and three-dimensional ocean circulation. The ocean portion of the model is weakly forced by observed temperature and salinity data. Simulation results show that including modeled ocean circulation in seasonal sea-ice simulations substantially improves the predicted ice drift and ice margin location. Simulations that do not include lateral ocean movement predict a much less realistic ice edge.