Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models
The simulation of Antarctic sea ice in global climate models often does not agree with observations. In this study, we examine the compactness of sea ice, as well as the regional distribution of sea ice concentration, in climate models from the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) an...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:68f0b52805a045d398506e5bbebd1cbc 2023-05-15T14:02:31+02:00 Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models L. A. Roach S. M. Dean J. A. Renwick 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-365-2018 https://doaj.org/article/68f0b52805a045d398506e5bbebd1cbc EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/365/2018/tc-12-365-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-12-365-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/68f0b52805a045d398506e5bbebd1cbc The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 365-383 (2018) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-365-2018 2022-12-31T14:17:38Z The simulation of Antarctic sea ice in global climate models often does not agree with observations. In this study, we examine the compactness of sea ice, as well as the regional distribution of sea ice concentration, in climate models from the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and in satellite observations. We find substantial differences in concentration values between different sets of satellite observations, particularly at high concentrations, requiring careful treatment when comparing to models. As a fraction of total sea ice extent, models simulate too much loose, low-concentration sea ice cover throughout the year, and too little compact, high-concentration cover in the summer. In spite of the differences in physics between models, these tendencies are broadly consistent across the population of 40 CMIP5 simulations, a result not previously highlighted. Separating models with and without an explicit lateral melt term, we find that inclusion of lateral melt may account for overestimation of low-concentration cover. Targeted model experiments with a coupled ocean–sea ice model show that choice of constant floe diameter in the lateral melt scheme can also impact representation of loose ice. This suggests that current sea ice thermodynamics contribute to the inadequate simulation of the low-concentration regime in many models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Cryosphere 12 1 365 383 |
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 L. A. Roach S. M. Dean J. A. Renwick Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The simulation of Antarctic sea ice in global climate models often does not agree with observations. In this study, we examine the compactness of sea ice, as well as the regional distribution of sea ice concentration, in climate models from the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and in satellite observations. We find substantial differences in concentration values between different sets of satellite observations, particularly at high concentrations, requiring careful treatment when comparing to models. As a fraction of total sea ice extent, models simulate too much loose, low-concentration sea ice cover throughout the year, and too little compact, high-concentration cover in the summer. In spite of the differences in physics between models, these tendencies are broadly consistent across the population of 40 CMIP5 simulations, a result not previously highlighted. Separating models with and without an explicit lateral melt term, we find that inclusion of lateral melt may account for overestimation of low-concentration cover. Targeted model experiments with a coupled ocean–sea ice model show that choice of constant floe diameter in the lateral melt scheme can also impact representation of loose ice. This suggests that current sea ice thermodynamics contribute to the inadequate simulation of the low-concentration regime in many models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. A. Roach S. M. Dean J. A. Renwick |
author_facet |
L. A. Roach S. M. Dean J. A. Renwick |
author_sort |
L. A. Roach |
title |
Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
title_short |
Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
title_full |
Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
title_fullStr |
Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
title_full_unstemmed |
Consistent biases in Antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
title_sort |
consistent biases in antarctic sea ice concentration simulated by climate models |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-365-2018 https://doaj.org/article/68f0b52805a045d398506e5bbebd1cbc |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 365-383 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/365/2018/tc-12-365-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-12-365-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/68f0b52805a045d398506e5bbebd1cbc |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-365-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
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12 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
365 |
op_container_end_page |
383 |
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1766272828840083456 |