David M. Holland, Courant Institute/NYU
An overview of sea ice modeling in a layered ocean model framework is given. The talk is opened by presenting observations of sea ice on both the small-scale of individual ice floes and the large-scale of the entire pack ice. The latter indicate that the primary variables needed in order to model the pack ice are its thickness, concentration, and velocity. Governing equations for the first two quantities, i.e. thickness and concentration, are derived from a mass conservation equation, subject to thermodynamic forcing from the overlying atmosphere and underlying ocean. A governing equation for the velocity is derived from a momentum conservation equation that includes an ice rheology term, and is subject to dynamic forcing from the winds and currents. The historical development and application of variants of these two conservation equations is presented. Finally, a recent adaptation of the sea-ice equations within the MICOM framework is given.