The Results of Test Cases Examining the Effects of Atmospheric Forcing in Limited Area Ice Models

Atmospheric forcing from the Naval Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System has been to drive the U.S. Navy's operational ice models, the Polar Ice Prediction System and the Regional Polar Ice Prediction System- Barents. Unlike many ocean circulation models which depend mainly on wind f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Preller, Ruth, Posey, Pamela G.
Other Authors: NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH LAB STENNIS SPACE CENTER MS
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1989
Subjects:
Atmospheric Physics
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
*POLAR REGIONS
MODELS
NAVY
RESOLUTION
WIND
ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE
FORECASTING
SHORT RANGE(TIME)
DRIFT
ICE
MELTING
SOLAR RADIATION
OCEAN MODELS
CIRCULATION
ATMOSPHERE MODELS
PREDICTIONS
*SEA ICE
*OCEAN MODELS
*ATMOSPHERE MOTION
PIPS(POLAR ICE PREDICTION SYSTEM)
RPIPS-B(REGIONAL POLAR ICE PREDICTION SYSTEM-BARENTS)
PE63207N
WUDN894428
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA231770
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA231770
Description
Summary:Atmospheric forcing from the Naval Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System has been to drive the U.S. Navy's operational ice models, the Polar Ice Prediction System and the Regional Polar Ice Prediction System- Barents. Unlike many ocean circulation models which depend mainly on wind forcing, ice models are dependent on winds as well as atmospheric heating/ cooling (fluxes, air temperatures and solar radiation). Comparisons of the ice model results with observations have shown that the model derived fields are highly sensitive to the atmospheric forcing. An excessively warm atmosphere can cause huge ice melting events while an atmosphere which is to cool can cause ice to grow where none has been observed. Wind forcing also plays a major role in the ice model results. Over the short periods of time used in a forecast, winds are dominant in determining ice drift. If the wind is inaccurate, modeled ice drifts are shown to reflect these inaccuracies. The resolution of the atmospheric models are often of the order of hundreds of kilometers, while the ice model's resolution is generally less than 100 km. Mesoscale features are often lost in the coarse resolution of the atmospheric forcing and are therefore missing from the ice model forecasts.

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