A new state-dependent parameterization for the free drift of sea ice

Abstract - 0.5  cm s - 1 (low-speed bias) and a root-mean-square error of 5.1 cm s - 1, considering daily buoy drift data as truth. This represents a 35 % reduction of the error on drift speed compared to the free-drift estimates used in the Polar Pathfinder dataset. The thickness-dependent transfer coefficient provides an improved seasonality and long-term trend of the sea ice drift speed, with a minimum (maximum) drift speed in May (October), compared to July (January) for the constant transfer coefficient parameterizations which simply follow the peak in mean surface wind stresses. Over the 1979–2019 period, the trend in sea ice drift in this new model is + 0.45  cm s - 1 per decade compared with + 0.39  cm s - 1 per decade from the buoy observations, whereas there is essentially no trend in a free-drift parameterization with a constant transfer coefficient (- 0.09  cm s - 1 per decade) or the Polar Pathfinder free-drift input data (- 0.01  cm s - 1 per decade). The optimal wind turning angle obtained from a least-squares fitting is 25∘, resulting in a mean error and a root-mean-square error of + 3 and 42∘ on the direction of the drift, respectively. The ocean current estimates obtained from the minimization procedure resolve key large-scale features such as the Beaufort Gyre and Transpolar Drift Stream and are in good agreement with ocean state estimates from the ECCO, GLORYS, and PIOMAS ice–ocean reanalyses, as well as geostrophic currents from dynamical ocean topography, with a root-mean-square difference of 2.4, 2.9, 2.6, and 3.8 cm s - 1, respectively. Finally, a repeat of the analysis on two sub-sections of the time series (pre- and post-2000) clearly shows the acceleration of the Beaufort Gyre (particularly along the Alaskan coastline) and an expansion of the gyre in the post-2000s, concurrent with a thinning of the sea ice cover and the observed acceleration of the ice drift speed and ocean currents. This new dataset is publicly available for complementing merged observation-based sea ice drift datasets that include satellite and buoy drift records.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: A new state-dependent parameterization for the free drift of sea ice ; volume:16 ; number:2 ; year:2022 ; pages:533-557 ; extent:25 ; The Cryosphere ; 16, Heft 2 (2022), 533-557 (gesamt 25)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Brunette, Charles ; Tremblay, L. Bruno ; Newton, Robert

Further information

• DOI: 10.5194/tc-16-533-2022
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022021704161579230147
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:32 AM CEST