Mathematical modelling of impact of under-ice melt ponds on the thermohaline interaction between sea ice and the oceanic mixed layer

In summer and autumn, melt ponds form from the melt of snow and the upper layers of Arctic sea ice and accumulate in depressions in the ice cover, covering up to 50% of the surface. This project examines under-ice melt ponds, which form due to this surface melt water percolating through the ice and accumulating at the ice-ocean interface. Observations suggest around 40% of the summer ice cover is underlain by under-ice melt ponds.
The under-ice melt ponds are relatively fresh and cold and significantly impact basal ablation of sea ice because the presence of a buoyant layer suppresses turbulent mixing, reducing the ocean to ice heat flux; mixing of freshwater raises the local freezing point; and the under ice melt ponds, because they are so fresh, typically freeze at the meltwater-ocean interface to form an ice lid called a “false bottom”, insulating the sea ice cover from the ocean.
This project will develop a one-dimensional sea ice-mixed layer model and use this to examine the impact of under-ice melt ponds on the sea ice mass balance and ocean mixed layer properties and depth. From our one-dimensional model, we will extract a parameterization of basal ablation to incorporate into the sea ice component of a climate model.

Further details of the project can be found at
http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/pg-research/Feltham_under_ice.pdf

General information on the PhD programme at the Department of Meteorology can be found at
http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/pg-research/