Articles | Volume 18, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6885-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6885-2025
Development and technical paper
 | 
07 Oct 2025
Development and technical paper |  | 07 Oct 2025

Implementation of an intermediate-complexity snow-physics scheme (ISBA-Explicit Snow) into a sea ice model (SI3): 1D thermodynamic coupling and validation

Théo Brivoal, Virginie Guemas, Martin Vancoppenolle, Clément Rousset, and Bertrand Decharme

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Cited articles

Anderson, E. A.: A Point Energy and Mass Balance Model of a Snow Cover, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Office of Hydrology, 172 pp., 1976. 
Bitz, C. M. and Lipscomb, W. H.: An energy-conserving thermodynamic model of sea ice, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 104, 15669–15677, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC900100, 1999. 
Bitz, C. M., Holland, M. M., Weaver, A. J., and Eby, M.: Simulating the ice-thickness distribution in a coupled climate model, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 106, 2441–2463, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC000113, 2001. 
Bohren, C. F. and Barkstrom, B. R.: Theory of the optical properties of snow, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 4527–4535, https://doi.org/10.1029/JC079i030p04527, 1974. 
Bohren, C. F. and Beschta, R. L.: Snowpack albedo and snow density, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 1, 47–50, https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-232X(79)90018-1, 1979. 
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Snow in polar regions is key to sea ice formation and the Earth's climate, but current climate models simplify snow cover on sea ice. This study integrates an intermediate-complexity snow-physics scheme into a sea ice model designed for climate applications. We show that modeling the temporal changes in properties such as the density and thermal conductivity of the snow layers leads to a more accurate representation of heat transfer between the underlying sea ice and the atmosphere.
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