A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice
The physics of planetary climate features a variety of complex systems that are challenging to model as they feature turbulent flows. A key example is the heat flux from the upper ocean to the underside of sea ice which provides a key contribution to the evolution of the Arctic sea ice cover. Here,...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2025
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| _version_ | 1824458824192360448 |
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| author | Toppaladoddi, S Wells, AJ |
| author_facet | Toppaladoddi, S Wells, AJ |
| author_sort | Toppaladoddi, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The physics of planetary climate features a variety of complex systems that are challenging to
model as they feature turbulent flows. A key example is the heat flux from the upper ocean to the
underside of sea ice which provides a key contribution to the evolution of the Arctic sea ice cover.
Here, we develop a model of the turbulent ice-ocean heat flux using coupled ordinary stochastic
differential equations to model fluctuations in the vertical velocity and temperature in the Arctic
mixed layer. All the parameters in the model are determined from observational data. A detailed
comparison between the model results and measurements made during the Surface Heat Budget
of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) project reveals that the model is able to capture the probability
density functions (PDFs) of velocity, temperature and heat flux fluctuations. Furthermore, we show
that the temperature in the upper layer of the Arctic ocean can be treated as a passive scalar
during the whole year of SHEBA measurements. The stochastic model developed here provides a
computationally inexpensive way to compute an observationally consistent PDF of this heat flux,
and has implications for its parametrization in regional and global climate models. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:32:01Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:b89d0fe1-c3cf-4a22-9d81-269c4aea65e1 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:32:01Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:b89d0fe1-c3cf-4a22-9d81-269c4aea65e12025-01-06T15:46:09ZA stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea iceJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b89d0fe1-c3cf-4a22-9d81-269c4aea65e1EnglishSymplectic ElementsAmerican Physical Society2025Toppaladoddi, SWells, AJThe physics of planetary climate features a variety of complex systems that are challenging to model as they feature turbulent flows. A key example is the heat flux from the upper ocean to the underside of sea ice which provides a key contribution to the evolution of the Arctic sea ice cover. Here, we develop a model of the turbulent ice-ocean heat flux using coupled ordinary stochastic differential equations to model fluctuations in the vertical velocity and temperature in the Arctic mixed layer. All the parameters in the model are determined from observational data. A detailed comparison between the model results and measurements made during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) project reveals that the model is able to capture the probability density functions (PDFs) of velocity, temperature and heat flux fluctuations. Furthermore, we show that the temperature in the upper layer of the Arctic ocean can be treated as a passive scalar during the whole year of SHEBA measurements. The stochastic model developed here provides a computationally inexpensive way to compute an observationally consistent PDF of this heat flux, and has implications for its parametrization in regional and global climate models. |
| spellingShingle | Toppaladoddi, S Wells, AJ A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice |
| title | A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice |
| title_full | A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice |
| title_fullStr | A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice |
| title_full_unstemmed | A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice |
| title_short | A stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under Arctic sea ice |
| title_sort | stochastic model for the turbulent ocean heat flux under arctic sea ice |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT toppaladoddis astochasticmodelfortheturbulentoceanheatfluxunderarcticseaice AT wellsaj astochasticmodelfortheturbulentoceanheatfluxunderarcticseaice AT toppaladoddis stochasticmodelfortheturbulentoceanheatfluxunderarcticseaice AT wellsaj stochasticmodelfortheturbulentoceanheatfluxunderarcticseaice |