Numerical simulation of ice dynamics on the St. Lawrence River at Montréal

• Main Authors: Browne, Thomas, Vouk, Ivana, Cornett, Andrew, Watson, David, Murphy, Enda, Sayed, Mohamed
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment 2019
• Subjects: Lawrence River; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/accepted/?id=6ab6b387-ae56-427f-ad65-b67d4e3f2d89; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=6ab6b387-ae56-427f-ad65-b67d4e3f2d89; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=6ab6b387-ae56-427f-ad65-b67d4e3f2d89

A numerical model originally developed at the National Research Council to simulate the dynamics of sea ice over large domains has been extended and applied to simulate ice cover dynamics in the St. Lawrence River at Montréal. The model predicts the evolution of ice cover and provides estimates of ice concentration, ice thickness and internal pressure or stress over space and time subject to forcing by water currents and winds. For this application the model was setup to resolve floating ice dynamics at much higher spatial resolutions and finer time scales than before, and a new boundary condition was developed to support a continuous inflow of ice across the upstream boundary. A new 2D hydrodynamic model of flows in the St. Lawrence River was also developed to provide high-quality spatially-variable predictions of water currents in the region of interest. The new models have been applied to predict the evolution of the ice cover on the river near downtown Montréal over a 9-12 hour period for several combinations of initial ice condition, river discharge and wind representing typical conditions during spring break-up. Simulations have been carried out to provide estimates of river ice dynamics and downstream ice conditions. This paper provides an overview of the methodologies employed in the study and a summary of the key findings. Peer reviewed: No NRC publication: Yes