The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice
ABSTRACT The response of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) to subgrid-scale variations of sea ice properties and fracturing is poorly understood and not taken into account in mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model parametrizations. In this paper we analyze three-dimensional air circul...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2018.15 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305518000150 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/aog.2018.15 2024-09-09T19:00:53+00:00 The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice Wenta, Marta Herman, Agnieszka 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2018.15 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305518000150 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Annals of Glaciology volume 59, issue 76pt2, page 213-230 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 journal-article 2018 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2018.15 2024-07-31T04:04:17Z ABSTRACT The response of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) to subgrid-scale variations of sea ice properties and fracturing is poorly understood and not taken into account in mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model parametrizations. In this paper we analyze three-dimensional air circulation within the ABL over fragmented sea ice. A series of idealized high-resolution simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is performed for several spatial distributions of ice floes and leads for two values of sea ice concentration (0.5 and 0.9) and several ambient wind speed profiles. The results show that the convective circulation within the ABL is sensitive to the subgrid-scale spatial distribution of sea ice. Considerable variability of several domain-averaged quantities – cloud liquid water content, surface turbulent heat flux (THF) – is found for different arrangements of floes. Moreover, the organized structure of air circulation leads to spatial covariance of variables characterizing the ABL. Based on the example of THF, it is demonstrated that this covariance may lead to substantial errors when THF values are estimated from area-averaged quantities, as it is done in mesoscale NWP models. This suggests the need for developing suitable parametrizations of ABL effects related to subgrid-scale sea ice features for these models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Sea ice Cambridge University Press Annals of Glaciology 59 76pt2 213 230 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT The response of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) to subgrid-scale variations of sea ice properties and fracturing is poorly understood and not taken into account in mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model parametrizations. In this paper we analyze three-dimensional air circulation within the ABL over fragmented sea ice. A series of idealized high-resolution simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is performed for several spatial distributions of ice floes and leads for two values of sea ice concentration (0.5 and 0.9) and several ambient wind speed profiles. The results show that the convective circulation within the ABL is sensitive to the subgrid-scale spatial distribution of sea ice. Considerable variability of several domain-averaged quantities – cloud liquid water content, surface turbulent heat flux (THF) – is found for different arrangements of floes. Moreover, the organized structure of air circulation leads to spatial covariance of variables characterizing the ABL. Based on the example of THF, it is demonstrated that this covariance may lead to substantial errors when THF values are estimated from area-averaged quantities, as it is done in mesoscale NWP models. This suggests the need for developing suitable parametrizations of ABL effects related to subgrid-scale sea ice features for these models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wenta, Marta Herman, Agnieszka |
spellingShingle |
Wenta, Marta Herman, Agnieszka The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
author_facet |
Wenta, Marta Herman, Agnieszka |
author_sort |
Wenta, Marta |
title |
The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
title_short |
The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
title_full |
The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
title_fullStr |
The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
title_sort |
influence of the spatial distribution of leads and ice floes on the atmospheric boundary layer over fragmented sea ice |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2018.15 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0260305518000150 |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology Sea ice |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology volume 59, issue 76pt2, page 213-230 ISSN 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2018.15 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
59 |
container_issue |
76pt2 |
container_start_page |
213 |
op_container_end_page |
230 |
_version_ |
1809942585351864320 |