High resolution ice-ocean simulation of the Storfjorden polynya in Svalbard

• Main Authors: rousset, clement, Vivier, Frédéric, Vancoppenolle, Martin, Benshila, Rachid, Madec, Gurvan, Bouruet-Aubertot, Pascale, Cuypers, Yannis, Lourenço, Antonio, Le Goff, Hervé
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Échanges dans la couche de surface : des pôles aux tropiques (SURF), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Développement Instrumental et Techniques Marines (DITM)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Arctic; Svalbard; Svalbard Archipelago; Sea ice; Storfjorden
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00833025

International audience Owing to the predicted and already observed dramatic impact of climate warming in the Arctic, there is a great need for monitoring this region not only to assess the magnitude of changes but also to understand the physical processes governing heat, salt and dynamical exchanges between ocean, ice and atmosphere, with improvement of climate models predictability as a challenging perspective. OPTIMISM (Observing dynamical and thermodynamical Processes impacting The sea-Ice Mass balance from In Situ Measurements) is a 4-year ANR/IPEV-funded project (2009-2013) involving 5 French laboratories . A backbone aspect of this project is the development of an autonomous instrument ("Ice-T" buoy + "BEAR" meteo mast), providing a comprehensive observation of the relevant parameters driving the sea ice mass balance. Processes are investigated from observations collected at two main sites: the central Arctic, and a coastal polynya of the Svalbard archipelago. A complementary approach , yet an ongoing task, is to build up a high resolution (<2 km) ice-ocean modelisation of the Svalbard area to simulate physical processes in an Arctic coastal polynia. These spatially-limited regions have been recently known to contribute significantly to the dense water formation of the Northern Hemisphere. The simulation is based on the most recent ice and ocean models (LIM3 - NEMO 3.4). It runs over a period long enough to study interannual variability but it also includes high frequency dynamics such as tides, which partly drive turbulent mixing and thus control ice melting and dense water formation. Achievements and perspectives will be presented.