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A Parameterization Scheme for Wind Wave Modules that Includes the Sea Ice Thickness in the Marginal Ice Zone

Abstract

The global wave model WAVEWATCH III®; works well in open water. To simulate the propagation and attenuation of waves through ice-covered water, existing simulations have considered the influence of sea ice by adding the sea ice concentration in the wind wave module; however, they simply suppose that the wind cannot penetrate the ice layer and ignore the possibility of wind forcing waves below the ice cover. To improve the simulation performance of wind wave modules in the marginal ice zone (MIZ), this study proposes a parameterization scheme by directly including the sea ice thickness. Instead of scaling the wind input with the fraction of open water, this new scheme allows partial wind input in ice-covered areas based on the ice thickness. Compared with observations in the Barents Sea in 2016, the new scheme appears to improve the modeled waves in the high-frequency band. Sensitivity experiments with and without wind wave modules show that wind waves can play an important role in areas with low sea ice concentration in the MIZ.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Ocean / Aquaculture
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Dalian Maritime University
  • Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences Guangzhou
  • Sun Yat-sen University

Year

2023

Published in

Advances in Atmospheric Sciences

ISSN

0256-1530

Volume

40

Page(s)

2279 - 2287

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository