A coupled ice-ocean model for the Bohai Sea Ⅱ. Case study

The coupled ice-ocean model for the Bohai Sea is used for simulating the freezing, melting, and variation of ice cover and the heat balance at the sea-ice, air-ice, and air-sea interfaces of the Bohai Sea during the entire winter in 1998-1999 and 2000-2001. The coupled model is forced by real time numerical weather prediction fields. The results show that the thermodynamic effects of atmosphere and ocean are very important for the evolvement of ice in the Bohai Sea, especially in the period of ice freezing and melting. Ocean heat flux plays a key role in the thermodynamic coupling. The simulation also presents the different thermodynamic features in the ice covered region and the marginal ice zone. Ice thickness, heat budget at the interface, and surface sea temperature, etc. between the two representative points are discussed.