Abstract
Abstract. Sea ice thickness evolution within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) is of great interest to science, as well as local communities and their economy. In this study, based on the NEMO numerical framework including the LIM2 sea ice module, simulations at both 1∕4 and 1/12∘ horizontal resolution were conducted from 2002 to 2016. The model captures well the general spatial distribution of ice thickness in the CAA region, with very thick sea ice (∼ 4 m and thicker) in the northern CAA, thick sea ice (2.5 to 3 m) in the west-central Parry Channel and M'Clintock Channel, and thin (<2 m) ice (in winter months) on the east side of CAA (e.g., eastern Parry Channel, Baffin Island coast) and in the channels in southern areas. Even though the configurations still have resolution limitations in resolving the exact observation sites, simulated ice thickness compares reasonably (seasonal cycle and amplitudes) with weekly Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) New Ice Thickness Program data at first-year landfast ice sites except at the northern sites with high concentration of old ice. At 1∕4 to 1/12∘ scale, model resolution does not play a significant role in the sea ice simulation except to improve local dynamics because of better coastline representation. Sea ice growth is decomposed into thermodynamic and dynamic (including all non-thermodynamic processes in the model) contributions to study the ice thickness evolution. Relatively smaller thermodynamic contribution to ice growth between December and the following April is found in the thick and very thick ice regions, with larger contributions in the thin ice-covered region. No significant trend in winter maximum ice volume is found in the northern CAA and Baffin Bay while a decline (r2 ≈ 0.6, p < 0.01) is simulated in Parry Channel region. The two main contributors (thermodynamic growth and lateral transport) have high interannual variabilities which largely balance each other, so that maximum ice volume can vary interannually by ±12 % in the northern CAA, ±15 % in Parry Channel, and ±9 % in Baffin Bay. Further quantitative evaluation is required.
Highlights
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), the complex network of shallow-water channels adjacent to the Arctic ice pack, has been a scientific research hot spot for a long time
First the ice thickness reproduction ability within the CAA of the NEMO-la-Neuve Ice Model Version 2 (LIM2) configurations used in this study is examined via comparisons with the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) thickness
Ice volume balance, focusing on the thermodynamics contribution and lateral transport, in the northern CAA, Parry Channel, and Baffin Bay will be included at the end
Summary
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), the complex network of shallow-water channels adjacent to the Arctic ice pack, has been a scientific research hot spot for a long time. The model is driven with high temporal (hourly) and spatial resolution (33 km) atmospheric forcing data provided by Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) Global Deterministic Prediction System (GDPS) reforecasts (CGRF) dataset (Smith et al, 2014), including 10 m wind, 2 m air temperature and humidity, downwelling and longwave radiation flux, and total precipitation. These forcing fields are linearly interpolated onto the model grid. Without such constraints the model evolves freely in time to help understand better the limitations of the physical processes represented by the model
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