Abstract

Co-authors: Lucia Hosekova (University of Reading, UK), Danny Feltham (University of Reading, UK), Tim Williams (Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC), Norway), A.J. George Nurser (National Oceanography Centre, UK), Gurvan Madec (Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), France), Andrew Coward (National Oceanography Centre, UK)

We examine effects of ocean surface waves on the polar sea ice and ocean using a sea ice-ocean general circulation model NEMO (stands for Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) coupled with the ocean wave model WAM output from model of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In the model the wave-ice interactions include: ice fragmentation due to break–up by waves in the vicinity of the ice edge; wave attenuation due to multiple scattering and non-elastic losses in the ice, wave advection and evolution of ice fragmentation. We analyse the impact of the waves on sea ice and the upper ocean, focusing on the marginal ice zone (MIZ) where the wave impacts are the most. The study compares the model results with the observations, and highlights a need to farther theoretical understanding of sea ice fragmentation and summarise requirements for observational techniques. The study was carry out in the EU FP7 Project ‘Ships and waves reaching P olar Regions (SWARP)’.