Ocean Circulation: Its Effects on Seasonal Sea-Ice Simulations

A diagnostic ice-ocean model of the Arctic, Greenland, and Norwegian seas is constructed and used to examine the role of ocean circulation in seasonal sea-ice simulations. The model includes lateral ice motion and three-dimensional ocean circulation. The ocean portion of the model is weakly forced by observed temperature and salinity data. Simulation results show that including modeled ocean circulation in seasonal sea-ice simulations substantially improves the predicted ice drift and ice margin location. Simulations that do not include lateral ocean movment predict a much less realistic ice edge.