Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica
International audience Coastal polynyas of the Southern Ocean play a central role in the ventilation of the deep ocean and affect the stability of ice shelves. It appears crucial to incorporate them into climate models, but it is unclear how to adequately simulate them. In particular, there is no co...
Published in: | Ocean Modelling |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2021
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/file/draft_pv_forcingres_revised_02.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 |
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Open Polar |
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Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
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English |
topic |
East Antarctica Katabatic winds Polynyas Dense Shelf Water Landfast ice High resolution [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology |
spellingShingle |
East Antarctica Katabatic winds Polynyas Dense Shelf Water Landfast ice High resolution [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology Huot, Pierre-Vincent Kittel, Christoph Fichefet, Thierry Jourdain, Nicolas Sterlin, Jean Fettweis, Xavier Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
East Antarctica Katabatic winds Polynyas Dense Shelf Water Landfast ice High resolution [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology |
description |
International audience Coastal polynyas of the Southern Ocean play a central role in the ventilation of the deep ocean and affect the stability of ice shelves. It appears crucial to incorporate them into climate models, but it is unclear how to adequately simulate them. In particular, there is no consensus on the atmospheric forcing resolution needed to appropriately model the sea ice in coastal Antarctica. A high resolution might be required to represent the local winds such as katabatic winds which are key drivers of coastal polynyas. To fill in this gap, we have tested the sensitivity of sea ice and air-sea-ice interactions in a high-resolution ocean–sea ice model to the resolution of the atmospheric forcing. A set of regional atmospheric simulations at horizontal resolutions of 20, 10, and 5 km are performed with an atmospheric regional model and used to force three ocean–sea ice simulations in the Adélie Land sector, East Antarctica. Due to the better representation of topography with a refined grid, the o shore component of coastal winds becomes stronger at increased resolution. The wind intensification is particularly strong down valleys channelizing the katabatic flow, with increase in wind speed ranging between 1 and 3 m/s. Under a higher resolution forcing, polynyas open more frequently and are wider. This fosters the growth rate of sea ice in polynyas, while landfast ice and pack ice are weakly affected. In polynyas, the production of sea ice is increased by up to 30% at 5 km resolution compared to 20 km resolution. Polynyas downstream of the katabatic wind pathway are more affected than the ones driven by easterly winds, highlighting the importance of the local wind conditions. Brine rejection associated with these higher sea ice production rates affects the salinity budget of the ocean and enhances both the volume and density of the dense Shelf Water produced off Adélie Land. These results underpin the need to better account for local coastal winds and polynyas in ocean and climate models. |
author2 |
Earth and Life Institute Louvain-La-Neuve (ELI) Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) Université de Liège Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Huot, Pierre-Vincent Kittel, Christoph Fichefet, Thierry Jourdain, Nicolas Sterlin, Jean Fettweis, Xavier |
author_facet |
Huot, Pierre-Vincent Kittel, Christoph Fichefet, Thierry Jourdain, Nicolas Sterlin, Jean Fettweis, Xavier |
author_sort |
Huot, Pierre-Vincent |
title |
Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_short |
Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_full |
Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_sort |
effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off adélie land, east antarctica |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/file/draft_pv_forcingres_revised_02.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 |
geographic |
East Antarctica Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
East Antarctica Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Shelves Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Shelves Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 1463-5003 Ocean Modelling https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 Ocean Modelling, Elsevier, 2021, 168, pp.101901. ⟨10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/file/draft_pv_forcingres_revised_02.pdf doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 |
container_title |
Ocean Modelling |
container_volume |
168 |
container_start_page |
101901 |
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1766261000748662784 |
spelling |
ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-03456196v1 2023-05-15T13:54:52+02:00 Effects of the atmospheric forcing resolution on simulated sea ice and polynyas off Adélie Land, East Antarctica Huot, Pierre-Vincent Kittel, Christoph Fichefet, Thierry Jourdain, Nicolas Sterlin, Jean Fettweis, Xavier Earth and Life Institute Louvain-La-Neuve (ELI) Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) Université de Liège Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) 2021 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/file/draft_pv_forcingres_revised_02.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196/file/draft_pv_forcingres_revised_02.pdf doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 ISSN: 1463-5003 Ocean Modelling https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03456196 Ocean Modelling, Elsevier, 2021, 168, pp.101901. ⟨10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901⟩ East Antarctica Katabatic winds Polynyas Dense Shelf Water Landfast ice High resolution [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2021 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2021.101901 2022-01-08T23:47:39Z International audience Coastal polynyas of the Southern Ocean play a central role in the ventilation of the deep ocean and affect the stability of ice shelves. It appears crucial to incorporate them into climate models, but it is unclear how to adequately simulate them. In particular, there is no consensus on the atmospheric forcing resolution needed to appropriately model the sea ice in coastal Antarctica. A high resolution might be required to represent the local winds such as katabatic winds which are key drivers of coastal polynyas. To fill in this gap, we have tested the sensitivity of sea ice and air-sea-ice interactions in a high-resolution ocean–sea ice model to the resolution of the atmospheric forcing. A set of regional atmospheric simulations at horizontal resolutions of 20, 10, and 5 km are performed with an atmospheric regional model and used to force three ocean–sea ice simulations in the Adélie Land sector, East Antarctica. Due to the better representation of topography with a refined grid, the o shore component of coastal winds becomes stronger at increased resolution. The wind intensification is particularly strong down valleys channelizing the katabatic flow, with increase in wind speed ranging between 1 and 3 m/s. Under a higher resolution forcing, polynyas open more frequently and are wider. This fosters the growth rate of sea ice in polynyas, while landfast ice and pack ice are weakly affected. In polynyas, the production of sea ice is increased by up to 30% at 5 km resolution compared to 20 km resolution. Polynyas downstream of the katabatic wind pathway are more affected than the ones driven by easterly winds, highlighting the importance of the local wind conditions. Brine rejection associated with these higher sea ice production rates affects the salinity budget of the ocean and enhances both the volume and density of the dense Shelf Water produced off Adélie Land. These results underpin the need to better account for local coastal winds and polynyas in ocean and climate models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Shelves Sea ice Southern Ocean Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) East Antarctica Southern Ocean Ocean Modelling 168 101901 |