The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis

<p>The NASA Eulerian Snow On Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) is a new, open-source snow budget model that is currently configured to produce daily estimates of the depth and density of snow on sea ice across the Arctic Ocean through the accumulation season. NESOSIM has been developed in a three-dim...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: A. A. Petty, M. Webster, L. Boisvert, T. Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2018-11-01
Series:Geoscientific Model Development
Online Access:https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/11/4577/2018/gmd-11-4577-2018.pdf
_version_ 1828388058417856512
author A. A. Petty
A. A. Petty
M. Webster
L. Boisvert
L. Boisvert
T. Markus
author_facet A. A. Petty
A. A. Petty
M. Webster
L. Boisvert
L. Boisvert
T. Markus
author_sort A. A. Petty
collection DOAJ
description <p>The NASA Eulerian Snow On Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) is a new, open-source snow budget model that is currently configured to produce daily estimates of the depth and density of snow on sea ice across the Arctic Ocean through the accumulation season. NESOSIM has been developed in a three-dimensional Eulerian framework and includes two (vertical) snow layers and several simple parameterizations (accumulation, wind packing, advection–divergence, blowing snow lost to leads) to represent key sources and sinks of snow on sea ice. The model is forced with daily inputs of snowfall and near-surface winds (from reanalyses), sea ice concentration (from satellite passive microwave data) and sea ice drift (from satellite feature tracking) during the accumulation season (August through April). In this study, we present the NESOSIM formulation, calibration efforts, sensitivity studies and validation efforts across an Arctic Ocean domain (100&thinsp;km horizontal resolution). The simulated snow depth and density are calibrated with in situ data collected on drifting ice stations during the 1980s. NESOSIM shows strong agreement with the in situ seasonal cycles of snow depth and density, and shows good (moderate) agreement with the regional snow depth (density) distributions. NESOSIM is run for a contemporary period (2000 to 2015), with the results showing strong sensitivity to the reanalysis-derived snowfall forcing data, with the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) and the Japanese Meteorological Agency 55-year reanalysis (JRA-55) forced snow depths generally higher than ERA-Interim, and the Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) generally lower. We also generate and force NESOSIM with a consensus <q>median</q> daily snowfall dataset from these reanalyses. The results are compared against snow depth estimates derived from NASA's Operation IceBridge (OIB) snow radar data from 2009 to 2015, showing moderate–strong correlations and root mean squared errors of  ∼ 10&thinsp;cm depending on the OIB snow depth product analyzed, similar to the comparisons between OIB snow depths and the commonly used modified Warren snow depth climatology. Potential improvements to this initial NESOSIM formulation are discussed in the hopes of improving the accuracy and reliability of these simulated snow depths and densities.</p>
first_indexed 2024-12-10T06:06:14Z
format Article
id doaj.art-54ea3c850a7c480d9e47020c62bafa65
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1991-959X
1991-9603
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-10T06:06:14Z
publishDate 2018-11-01
publisher Copernicus Publications
record_format Article
series Geoscientific Model Development
spelling doaj.art-54ea3c850a7c480d9e47020c62bafa652022-12-22T01:59:41ZengCopernicus PublicationsGeoscientific Model Development1991-959X1991-96032018-11-01114577460210.5194/gmd-11-4577-2018The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysisA. A. Petty0A. A. Petty1M. Webster2L. Boisvert3L. Boisvert4T. Markus5Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USAEarth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USACryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USACryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USAEarth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USACryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA<p>The NASA Eulerian Snow On Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) is a new, open-source snow budget model that is currently configured to produce daily estimates of the depth and density of snow on sea ice across the Arctic Ocean through the accumulation season. NESOSIM has been developed in a three-dimensional Eulerian framework and includes two (vertical) snow layers and several simple parameterizations (accumulation, wind packing, advection–divergence, blowing snow lost to leads) to represent key sources and sinks of snow on sea ice. The model is forced with daily inputs of snowfall and near-surface winds (from reanalyses), sea ice concentration (from satellite passive microwave data) and sea ice drift (from satellite feature tracking) during the accumulation season (August through April). In this study, we present the NESOSIM formulation, calibration efforts, sensitivity studies and validation efforts across an Arctic Ocean domain (100&thinsp;km horizontal resolution). The simulated snow depth and density are calibrated with in situ data collected on drifting ice stations during the 1980s. NESOSIM shows strong agreement with the in situ seasonal cycles of snow depth and density, and shows good (moderate) agreement with the regional snow depth (density) distributions. NESOSIM is run for a contemporary period (2000 to 2015), with the results showing strong sensitivity to the reanalysis-derived snowfall forcing data, with the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) and the Japanese Meteorological Agency 55-year reanalysis (JRA-55) forced snow depths generally higher than ERA-Interim, and the Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) generally lower. We also generate and force NESOSIM with a consensus <q>median</q> daily snowfall dataset from these reanalyses. The results are compared against snow depth estimates derived from NASA's Operation IceBridge (OIB) snow radar data from 2009 to 2015, showing moderate–strong correlations and root mean squared errors of  ∼ 10&thinsp;cm depending on the OIB snow depth product analyzed, similar to the comparisons between OIB snow depths and the commonly used modified Warren snow depth climatology. Potential improvements to this initial NESOSIM formulation are discussed in the hopes of improving the accuracy and reliability of these simulated snow depths and densities.</p>https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/11/4577/2018/gmd-11-4577-2018.pdf
spellingShingle A. A. Petty
A. A. Petty
M. Webster
L. Boisvert
L. Boisvert
T. Markus
The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis
Geoscientific Model Development
title The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis
title_full The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis
title_fullStr The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis
title_full_unstemmed The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis
title_short The NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) v1.0: initial model development and analysis
title_sort nasa eulerian snow on sea ice model nesosim v1 0 initial model development and analysis
url https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/11/4577/2018/gmd-11-4577-2018.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT aapetty thenasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT aapetty thenasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT mwebster thenasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT lboisvert thenasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT lboisvert thenasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT tmarkus thenasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT aapetty nasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT aapetty nasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT mwebster nasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT lboisvert nasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT lboisvert nasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis
AT tmarkus nasaeuleriansnowonseaicemodelnesosimv10initialmodeldevelopmentandanalysis