Sea ice assimilation into a coupled ocean–sea ice model using its adjoint
Satellite sea ice concentrations (SICs), together with several ocean parameters, are assimilated into a regional Arctic coupled ocean–sea ice model covering the period of 2000–2008 using the adjoint method. There is substantial improvement in the representation of the SIC spatial distribution, i...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-09-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | https://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/2265/2017/tc-11-2265-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | Satellite sea ice concentrations (SICs), together with several ocean
parameters, are assimilated into a regional Arctic coupled ocean–sea ice
model covering the period of 2000–2008 using the adjoint method. There is
substantial improvement in the representation of the SIC spatial
distribution, in particular with respect to the position of the ice edge and
to the concentrations in the central parts of the Arctic Ocean during summer
months. Seasonal cycles of total Arctic sea ice area show an overall
improvement. During summer months, values of sea ice extent (SIE) integrated
over the model domain become underestimated compared to observations, but
absolute differences of mean SIE to the data are reduced in nearly all months
and years. Along with the SICs, the sea ice thickness fields also become
closer to observations, providing added value by the assimilation. Very
sparse ocean data in the Arctic, corresponding to a very small contribution
to the cost function, prevent sizable improvements of assimilated ocean
variables, with the exception of the sea surface temperature. |
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| ISSN: | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |