Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation
Size distribution of sea ice floes is an important component for sea ice thermodynamic and dynamic processes, particularly in the marginal ice zone. Recently processes related to the floe size distribution (FSD) have been incorporated into sea ice models, but the sparsity of existing observations li...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4eccf01da0b84d5586285601ab5f0d0a 2023-09-26T15:14:40+02:00 Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation Y. Wang B. Hwang A. W. Bateson Y. Aksenov C. Horvat 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3575-2023 https://doaj.org/article/4eccf01da0b84d5586285601ab5f0d0a EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/3575/2023/tc-17-3575-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-3575-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/4eccf01da0b84d5586285601ab5f0d0a The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 3575-3591 (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3575-2023 2023-08-27T00:36:30Z Size distribution of sea ice floes is an important component for sea ice thermodynamic and dynamic processes, particularly in the marginal ice zone. Recently processes related to the floe size distribution (FSD) have been incorporated into sea ice models, but the sparsity of existing observations limits the evaluation of FSD models, thus hindering model improvements. In this study, perimeter density has been applied to characterise the floe size distribution for evaluating three FSD models – the Waves-in-Ice module and Power law Floe Size Distribution (WIPoFSD) model and two branches of a fully prognostic floe size-thickness distribution model: CPOM-FSD and FSDv2-WAVE. These models are evaluated against a new FSD dataset derived from high-resolution satellite imagery in the Arctic. The evaluation shows an overall overestimation of floe perimeter density by the models against the observations. Comparison of the floe perimeter density distribution with the observations shows that the models exhibit a much larger proportion for small floes (radius < 10 –30 m) but a much smaller proportion for large floes (radius > 30 –50 m). Observations and the WIPoFSD model both show a negative correlation between sea ice concentration and the floe perimeter density, but the two prognostic models (CPOM-FSD and FSDv2-WAVE) show the opposite pattern. These differences between models and the observations may be attributed to limitations in the observations (e.g. the image resolution is not sufficient to detect small floes) or limitations in the model parameterisations, including the use of a global power-law exponent in the WIPoFSD model as well as too weak a floe welding and enhanced wave fracture in the prognostic models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic The Cryosphere 17 8 3575 3591 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 Y. Wang B. Hwang A. W. Bateson Y. Aksenov C. Horvat Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Size distribution of sea ice floes is an important component for sea ice thermodynamic and dynamic processes, particularly in the marginal ice zone. Recently processes related to the floe size distribution (FSD) have been incorporated into sea ice models, but the sparsity of existing observations limits the evaluation of FSD models, thus hindering model improvements. In this study, perimeter density has been applied to characterise the floe size distribution for evaluating three FSD models – the Waves-in-Ice module and Power law Floe Size Distribution (WIPoFSD) model and two branches of a fully prognostic floe size-thickness distribution model: CPOM-FSD and FSDv2-WAVE. These models are evaluated against a new FSD dataset derived from high-resolution satellite imagery in the Arctic. The evaluation shows an overall overestimation of floe perimeter density by the models against the observations. Comparison of the floe perimeter density distribution with the observations shows that the models exhibit a much larger proportion for small floes (radius < 10 –30 m) but a much smaller proportion for large floes (radius > 30 –50 m). Observations and the WIPoFSD model both show a negative correlation between sea ice concentration and the floe perimeter density, but the two prognostic models (CPOM-FSD and FSDv2-WAVE) show the opposite pattern. These differences between models and the observations may be attributed to limitations in the observations (e.g. the image resolution is not sufficient to detect small floes) or limitations in the model parameterisations, including the use of a global power-law exponent in the WIPoFSD model as well as too weak a floe welding and enhanced wave fracture in the prognostic models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Y. Wang B. Hwang A. W. Bateson Y. Aksenov C. Horvat |
author_facet |
Y. Wang B. Hwang A. W. Bateson Y. Aksenov C. Horvat |
author_sort |
Y. Wang |
title |
Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
title_short |
Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
title_full |
Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
title_fullStr |
Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the Arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
title_sort |
summer sea ice floe perimeter density in the arctic: high-resolution optical satellite imagery and model evaluation |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3575-2023 https://doaj.org/article/4eccf01da0b84d5586285601ab5f0d0a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 3575-3591 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/3575/2023/tc-17-3575-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-3575-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/4eccf01da0b84d5586285601ab5f0d0a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3575-2023 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
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17 |
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8 |
container_start_page |
3575 |
op_container_end_page |
3591 |
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