Chinese Journal of Polar Research

ADVANCES IN POLAR SCIENCE ›› 2008, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (2-English): 168-184.

• Contents • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Modeling seasonal variations of ocean and sea ice circulation in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas:A model-data fusion study

Wang Jia1, Kohei Mizobata2, Hu Haoguo3, Jin Meibing4, Zhang Sheng4, Walter Johnson5, Koji Shimada2 and Moto Ikeda6   

  1. 1 NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), 4840 S State Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA;
    2 Department of Ocean Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Kounan, Minoto-ku, Tokyo, 108-8477, Japan;
    3 Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research (CILER), School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 4840 S State Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA;
    4 International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7340, USA;
    5 Minerals Management Service, Department of Interior, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, VA 20170-4817, USA;
    6 Graduate School of Earth and Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
  • Online:1958-06-30 Published:1958-06-30
  • Contact: Wang Jia

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Abstract:

A 3.8-km Coupled Ice-Ocean Model(CIOM) was implemented to successfully reproduce many observed phenomena in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas,including the Bering-inflow-originated coastal current that splits into three branches: Alaska Coastal Water(ACW),Central Channel,and Herald Valley branches.Other modeled phenomena include the Beaufort Slope Current(BSC),the Beaufort Gyre, the East Siberian Current(ESC),mesoscale eddies,seasonal landfast ice,sea ice ridging,shear,and deformation.Many of these downscaling processes can only be captured by using a high-resolution CIOM,nested in a global climate model.The seasonal cycles for sea ice concentration,thickness,velocity,and other variables are well reproduced with solid validation by satellite measurements.The seasonal cycles for upper ocean dynamics and thermodynamics are also well reproduced,which include the formation of the cold saline layer due to the injection of salt during sea ice formation,the BSC,and the subsurface upwelling in winter that brings up warm,even more saline Atlantic Water along the shelfbreak and shelf along the Beaufort coast.

Key words: ocean and sea ice circulation, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, model-data fusion