The next generation sea-ice model neXtSIM, version 2

Ólason, Einar; Boutin, Guillaume; Williams, Timothy; Korosov, Anton; Regan, Heather; Rheinlænder, Jonathan; Rampal, Pierre; Flocco, Daniela; Samaké, Abdoulaye; Davy, Richard; Spain, Timothy; Chua, Sean

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-6467-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-6467-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-6467-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 14

Model description paper

|

17 Jul 2026

Model description paper |

| 17 Jul 2026

The next generation sea-ice model neXtSIM, version 2

Einar Ólason, Guillaume Boutin, Timothy Williams, Anton Korosov, Heather Regan, Jonathan Rheinlænder, Pierre Rampal, Daniela Flocco, Abdoulaye Samaké, Richard Davy, Timothy Spain, and Sean Chua

Data sets

Global Sea Ice Drift Climate Data Record Release v1.0 - Multimission OSI SAF https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_OSI_0012

Sea Ice Concentration Climate Data Record Release 3.1 - Multimission OSI SAF https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_OSI_0023

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

Arctic Ocean Physics Reanalysis CMEMS https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00007

Model code and software

neXtSIM, the next generation sea ice model (2.4.2) Einar Ólason et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14724536

Short summary

This paper introduces a new version of the neXtSIM sea-ice model. NeXtSIM is unique among sea-ice models in how it represents sea-ice dynamics, focusing on features such as cracks and ridges and how these impact interactions between the atmosphere and ocean where sea ice is present. The new version introduces some physical parameterisations and model options detailed and explained in the paper. Following the paper's publication, the neXtSIM code will be released publicly for the first time.