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Year-Round Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica: Response and Sensitivity to Atmospheric and Oceanic ForcingUsing a dynamic-thermodynamic numerical sea-ice model, external oceanic and atmospheric forcings on sea ice in the Weddell Sea are examined to identify physical processes associated with the seasonal cycle of pack ice, and to identify further the parameters that coupled models need to consider in predicting the response of the pack ice to climate and ocean-circulation changes. In agreement with earlier studies, the primary influence on the winter ice-edge maximum extent is air temperature. Ocean heat flux has more impact on the minimum-ice-edge extent and in reducing pack-ice thickness, especially in the eastern-Weddell Sea. Low relative humidity enhances ice growth in thin ice and open-water regions, producing a more realistic ice edge along the coastal areas of the western-Weddell Sea where dry continental air has an impact. The modeled extent of the Weddell summer pack is equally sensitive to ocean heat flux and atmospheric relative humidity variations with the more dynamic responses being from the atmosphere. Since the atmospheric regime in the eastern Weddell is dominated by marine intrusions from lower latitudes, with high humidity already, it is unlikely that either the moisture trans- port could be further raised or that it could be significantly lowered because of its distance from the continent (the lower humidity source). Ocean heat-transport variability is shown to lead to overall ice thinning in the model response and is a known feature of the actual system, as evidenced by the occurrence of the Weddell Polynya in the mid 1970s.
Document ID
20000037971
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Geiger, Cathleen A.
(Dartmouth Coll. Hanover, NH United States)
Ackley, Stephen F.
(Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab. Hanover, NH United States)
Hibler, William D., III
(Dartmouth Coll. Hanover, NH United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes Research Publications
Subject Category
Oceanography
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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