Representation of sea ice in Different Ocean-sea ice Models of the Arctic

Arctic sea ice is an active component of the climate system and also serves as an early indicator of global change. It is therefore important that climate models properly represent Arctic sea ice processes. In the framework of the Arctic Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (AOMIP) we compare sea ice results from simulations with different ocean-sea ice models of the Arctic. Ocean models are known to critically depend on the representation of certain topographic features and thus require relatively high horizontal resolution. Sea ice models underlie similar constraints because of the transport through narrow passages and the proximity of ice edge and warm ocean currents. Oceanic heat transport, ice edge, and convection sites are strongly interacting elements in coupled models. Here we investigate some of these interactions and their dependence on model configuration, parameterizations, and resolution.