A coupled multi-category sea-ice model and the Princeton Ocean Model
(POM) are implemented for the Labrador Sea and the surrounding
continental shelves (Yao et al., 2000). The forcing fields are
computed from six-hourly forecast meteorological parameters provided
by Canadian Meteorological Service. Seasonal water temperature and
salinity are prescribed at the open boundaries, and used to set the
initial conditions of the model. Sea-ice is coupled to the POM using
the coupling scheme of Mellor and Kantha (1989). The ocean model is
run continuously. Ice concentration and thickness are updated every
day at -24 hours forecast time with daily digital ice maps provided
by Canadian Ice Service.
Surface waves model
A second generation spectral wave model (Komen et al., 1994; Perrie
et al., 1989) is implemented for the northwestern North Atlantic.
The model domain covers a large part of the North Atlantic,
approximately 20ºN to 65ºN, 80ºW to 20ºW. Sea-ice areas are treated
as land if the ice concentration and thickness are greater than 70%
and 0.10m respectively. The forcing fields are 6-hourly surface winds.
Ocean tides model
The tidal constants used to compute tidal elevation and tidal
currents were generated from the three-dimensional tide model of
Han (2000). The model covering the Grand Bank and the shelf edge
includes the major semidiurnal (M2 , S2 , N2) and diurnal (K1 , O1)
tides. Tidal elevations are specified at the open boundary on the
basis of Petrie et al.'s (1987) model output and satellite altimetric
measurements (Han et al., 1996). The model results have been validated
with available water level and current data from coastal tide gauge
and offshore bottom pressure gauge stations, and moored current meters.
