18.11.2024: Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics Colloquium

When?  Monday 18 November 2024 at 11 am
Where?    Conference Room 5-1.214, Building 5, Wischofstr. 1-3 and 
Zoom: https://geomar-de.zoom.us/j/84289388604?pwd=dGlpeTBUd1Nxem5Ec3dRYXh4NFpOUT09

Abstract:
Sea ice at both poles is characterized by small-scale features: a mosaic of floes—small pieces of ice—formed by deformation and fracture under wind and ocean currents. These small-scale processes significantly influence air-ice-ocean interactions that impact regional climate: heat and moisture are transported through ice openings, while ridges formed by piled-up ice from deformation dominate surface drag. Despite this fragmented structure, sea ice is often represented as a smooth continuous medium in coarse-resolution climate models. In this presentation, I will demonstrate how we can better capture these dynamics by either resolving small-scale fracture processes in high-resolution (1 km) simulations or developing scale-aware parameterizations of deformation driven evolution at the floe-scale in coarse-resolution models. This work spans the development of numerical sea ice models, model intercomparisons through observational synthesis, and data-driven parameterizations using satellite data. Drawing from airborne and in-situ data from the recent MOSAiC expedition, I will highlight the potential of machine learning to leverage small-scale deformation patterns to enhance ice thickness measurements and consequently improve estimates of changing ice volume. I’ll conclude with an outlook on my future research at the interface of modeling, observations, and machine learning at GEOMAR aimed at advancing data-driven models for sea ice and ocean systems.

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