One-Dimensional Models for the Closure of a Coastal Latent Heat Polynya

Abstract

Abstract One-dimensional models for the closure of a coastal latent heat polynya due to the onshore drift of frazil ice and consolidated ice are presented in this paper. The models predict the width of a polynya during an opening and closing cycle and include the cases in which the collection thickness of consolidated new ice at the polynya edge (during opening) or at the coast (during closing) is (a) a prescribed constant or (b) parameterized in terms of the depth of frazil ice arriving at the polynya edge (during opening) or the coast (during closing) and the relative velocity of the frazil ice with respect to the “convergence boundary” (i.e., the consolidated ice during opening or the stationary coastal wall during closing). Four dimensionless parameters specify the opening and closing cycle of a polynya, and throughout most of the four-dimensional parameter space the closing timescale is shorter than the opening timescale. In this case, it is found that the heat released from the polynya to the atmosp...