This one-day event will address climate model representation of sea ice and the fundamental and applied issues in mathematical modeling of sea ice. In particular, it will seek to identify future priorities for climate sea ice model development. The workshop will include the presentation and discussion of different views and modeling approaches, issues relevant to adequate simulation of sea ice from the perspective of the mathematical modeler, and will be relevant to those working on climate models, specifically for sea ice.
Workshop Background:
Observations, theory, and numerical modeling strongly indicate a substantial alteration of the Earth's climate with global average warming in the coming decades. Our understanding of current and future climate is substantially derived from climate models. Climate models solve systems of equations that simulate the circulation and physical evolution of the Earth's atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and cryosphere. Sea ice, an important component of the cryosphere, provides a partial barrier to exchanges of momentum, heat, and freshwater between the atmosphere and ocean and is a complex composite of ice and brine that exhibits varying structural, thermodynamic, and mechanical properties across a range of length and timescales. The last decade's rapid and substantial reduction of the Arctic sea ice cover has been widely reported and further changes are expected in the coming years. While loss of sea ice will not alter sea level, it does alter the exchanges and feedbacks between the atmosphere and ocean and has a significant impact on the polar regions and global climate through its impact on atmospheric and oceanic circulations.