Numerical models of ice evolution, ocean circulation, and heat and freshwater transport were
developed for the Canadian Arctic, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and for the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay regions. Objectives included the eventual ability to forecast the growth and distribution, concentration, and movement of sea ice in these regions for varying climatic conditions and to study the circulation and freshwater budgets. These projects are described with details presented in slideshows whose links are found below. Another project has been developed separately where ice/ocean conditions are forecast in real-time for the east coast of Canada. The NEMO and finite element model (FEM) are used for short-term forecasting (transportation, SAR, and pollution) and climate/seasonal forecasting used in ecosystem studies.
Models
NEMO Modelling: An ocean and sea-ice model for the Arctic Ocean, with a nested, high-resolution sub-model for the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), has been developed based on the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO). The horizontal resolution is 10 km for the Arctic region and 6 km for the CAA subregion. The simulated fields are being compared to available mooring observations.
The model grid is created by shifting poles to the equator with 348x364 horizontal grids in the pan-Arctic model and 349x328 grids in the nested domain. The vertical quantization uses "z-levels" and "partial cells" near the bottom with a maximum of 46 levels. The level thicknesses increase from 6 m at the surface to 250 m at the bottom.
configuration of the pan-Arctic (outer box) and the embedded CAA sub-model (inner box)
FEM (finite element) Modelling: As part of the Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Flux ASOF (ASOF) and International Polar Year (IPY) programs, numerical models have been developed for the Canadian Arctic Archipelago region and compared against data. One goal is to estimate fluxes through Barrow Strait and Lancaster Sound since they are believed to impact the global meridional overturning circulation. The finite element method seems appropriate to the discretization of such highly irregular and complex regions as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and is being used to forecast tidal heights and currents.
The model uses the finite element method which is appropriate for discretization of a highly irregular and complex region. The horizontal triangular mesh consists of 15393 nodes connected by 7556 elements. The resolution is from 1.1 km in the narrow straits to 53 km in Baffin Bay. Terrain-following coordinates are used for the vertical. In order to reduce errors from calculations of horizontal gradients, a hybrid mesh is applied with horizontal levels for the upper 150 m where the vertical stratification is strongest.
The Princeton Ocean Model (POM) model is a coupled ice-ocean model of the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. Results from integrating the model for one year are given in a slideshow.
Dunphy, M., F. Dupont, C. G. Hannah, and D. A. Greenberg. 2005. Validation of Modelling System for Tides in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Kliem, N., and D. Greenberg, 2003. Diagnostic simulations of the summer circulation in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Saucier, F. J., S. Senneville, S. Prinsenberg, F. Roy, P. Gachon, D. Caya, and R. Laprise. 2004. "Modelling theice-ocean seasonal cycle in Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin, and Hudson Strait, Canada"
Yao, T., C. L. Tang, and I. Peterson. 2000. "Modeling the seasonal variation of sea ice in the Labrador Sea with a coupled multicategory ice model and the Princeton ocean model"
Saucier, F. J., S. Senneville, S. Prinsenberg, F. Roy, P. Gachon, D. Caya, and R. Laprise. 2004. "Modelling the ice-ocean seasonal cycle in Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin, and Hudson Strait, Canada"
Lu, Y., S. Nudds, F. Dupont, M. Dunphy, C. Hannah, and S. J. Prinsenberg. 2010. "High-resolution modelling of ocean and sea-ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic coastal waters."
