Collaborative Research: Studies of Arctic Climate Feedbacks Using SHEBA Data and the NCAR Climate System Model

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is part of an integrated set of proposals for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean project. The goal of the current phase of the SHEBA project is to use data collected during a one year experiment during which an icebreaker frozen into the ice pack of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was used as a platform for data collection. A full annual cycle of data relating to feedbacks of the ocean-ice-atmosphere system was collected and will be used to improve model parameterizations of sea ice response to global warming. This project uses data from all environments in a column-model approach to examine feedbacks between changes in each environment. A hierarchy of sea-ice models will be used and the results will be incorporated into the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model to produce improved simulations of Arctic climate. The activities of this project are an essential effort to enhance the outcome of the SHEBA research projects designed to improve column, mesoscale and General Circulation Models (GCMs) that facilitate better simulations of the Arctic sea ice response to projected global warming trends.