An enhanced sea-ice thermodynamic model applied to the Baltic sea

• Main Authors: Tedesco, L., Vichi, M., Haapala, J., Stipa, T.
• Other Authors: Tedesco, L.; CMCC, Vichi, M.; Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Bologna, Bologna, Italia, Haapala, J.; Finnish Institute of Marine Research, Stipa, T.; Finnish Institute of Marine Research, CMCC, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Bologna, Bologna, Italia, Finnish Institute of Marine Research
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Boreal Environment Research Publishing Board 2009
• Subjects: sea-ice; biogeochemistry; numerical model; BFM; 02. Cryosphere::02.04. Sea ice::02.04.99. General or miscellaneous; 02. Cryosphere::02.04. Sea ice::02.04.01. Atmosphere/sea ice/ocean interaction; 03. Hydrosphere::03.01. General::03.01.01. Analytical and numerical modeling; 03. Hydrosphere::03.01. General::03.01.07. Physical and biogeochemical interactions; Boreal Environment Research; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2122/5743; http://www.borenv.net/BER/pdfs/ber14/ber14-068.pdf

A refined Semtner 0-layer sea-ice model (ESIM1) is presented and applied to the Baltic landfast sea-ice. The physical model is capable of simulating seasonal changes of snow and ice thickness. Particular attention is paid to reproducing the snow-ice and the super-imposed-ice formation which play important roles in the total mass balance of the Baltic sea-ice. The model prognostic variables include all kinds of ice and snow layers that may be present during a Baltic landfast ice season and, in general, in every coastal area of an ice-covered ocean. The assessment of the model capabilities was done for 1979–1993 for four different stations in the Baltic Sea. A sensitivity test stresses the relevant role of some of the physical parameters, such as the oceanic heat flux, while a scenario analysis highlights the robustness of the model to perturbed physical forcing. Our results show that one of the key variables in modelling sea-ice thermodynamics is the snow layer and its metamorphism, and including the meteoric ice dynamics into a sea ice model is relevant to properly simulate any ice season, also in view of climate change scenarios Italian FISR project VECTOR and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici Published 68-80 3.7. Dinamica del clima e dell'oceano JCR Journal reserved