Fabien Montiel

Comparison of viscoelastic-type models for ocean wave attenuation in ice-covered seas

Continuum-based models that describe the propagation of ocean waves in ice-infested seas are considered, where the surface ocean layer (including ice floes, brash ice, etc.) is modeled by a homogeneous viscoelastic material which causes waves to attenuate as they travel through the medium. Three ice layer models are compared, namely a viscoelastic fluid layer model currently being trialed in the spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III® and two simpler viscoelastic thin beam models. All three models are two dimensional. A comparative analysis shows that one of the beam models provides similar predictions for wave attenuation and wavelength to the viscoelastic fluid model. The three models are calibrated using wave attenuation data recently collected in the Antarctic marginal ice zone as an example. Although agreement with the data is obtained with all three models, several important issues related to the viscoelastic fluid model are identified that raise questions about its suitability to characterize wave attenuation in ice-covered seas. Viscoelastic beam models appear to provide a more robust parameterization of the phenomenon being modeled, but still remain questionable as a valid characterization of wave-ice interactions generally.

Evolution of Directional Wave Spectra in the Marginal Ice Zone: A New Model Tested with Legacy Data

AbstractField experimental data from a 1980s program in the Greenland Sea investigating the evolution of directional wave spectra in the marginal ice zone are reanalyzed and compared with the predictions of a new, phase-resolving, three-dimensional model describing the two-dimensional scattering of the waves by the vast number of ice floes that are normally present. The model is augmented with a dissipative term to account for the nonconservative processes affecting wave propagation. Observations reported in the experimental study are used to reproduce the ice conditions and wave forcing during the experiments. It is found that scattering alone underestimates the attenuation experienced by the waves during their passage through the ice field. With dissipation, however, the model can replicate the observed attenuation for most frequencies in the swell regime. Model predictions and observations of directional spreading are in agreement for short to midrange wave periods, where the wave field quickly becomes...

Modelling wave-induced sea ice break-up in the marginal ice zone

A model of ice floe break-up under ocean wave forcing in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) is proposed to investigate how floe size distribution (FSD) evolves under repeated wave break-up events. A three-dimensional linear model of ocean wave scattering by a finite array of compliant circular ice floes is coupled to a flexural failure model, which breaks a floe into two floes provided the two-dimensional stress field satisfies a break-up criterion. A closed-feedback loop algorithm is devised, which (i) solves the wave-scattering problem for a given FSD under time-harmonic plane wave forcing, (ii) computes the stress field in all the floes, (iii) fractures the floes satisfying the break-up criterion, and (iv) generates an updated FSD, initializing the geometry for the next iteration of the loop. The FSD after 50 break-up events is unimodal and near normal, or bimodal, suggesting waves alone do not govern the power law observed in some field studies. Multiple scattering is found to enhance break-up for long waves and thin ice, but to reduce break-up for short waves and thick ice. A break-up front marches forward in the latter regime, as wave-induced fracture weakens the ice cover, allowing waves to travel deeper into the MIZ.

Evolution of Directional Wave Spectra Through Finite Regular and Randomly Perturbed Arrays of Scatterers

A method is proposed to solve the full linear problem of wave scattering by a large finite array of circular inclusions in two spatial dimensions and compute the concomitant evolution of directional wave properties through the array. The method decomposes the array into slabs. Interactions between adjacent slabs are calculated using a representation of the wave fields scattered by each slab as integrals of plane waves over the directional spectrum plus exponentially decaying branches. The method is applied to the canonical problem of acoustic sound-hard scatterers. Validation is sought for (i) regular arrays via comparison with solutions of corresponding infinite, periodic single- and multiple row arrays and (ii) random arrays via comparison with Foldys approximation for the effective field. A numerical investigation is conducted to determine the effect of introducing random perturbations into regular arrays on the directional properties of the reflected and transmitted fields.

Reflection and transmission of ocean wave spectra by a band of randomly distributed ice floes

Abstract A new ocean wave/sea-ice interaction model is proposed that simulates how a directional wave spectrum evolves as it travels through an arbitrary finite array of circular ice floes, where wave/ ice dynamics are entirely governed by wave-scattering effects. The model is applied to characterize the wave reflection and transmission properties of a strip of ice floes, such as an ice edge band. A method is devised to extract the reflected and transmitted directional wave spectra produced by the array. The method builds upon an integral mapping from polar to Cartesian coordinates of the scattered wave components. Sensitivity tests are conducted for a row of floes randomly perturbed from a regular arrangement. Results for random arrays are generated using ensemble averaging. A realistic ice edge band is then reconstructed from field experiment data. Simulations show good qualitative agreement with the data in terms of transmitted wave energy and directional spreading. In particular, it is observed that short waves become isotropic quickly after penetrating the ice field.

Overview of the Arctic Sea State and Boundary Layer Physics Program

A large collaborative program has studied the coupled air‐ice‐ocean‐wave processes occurring in the Arctic during the autumn ice advance. The program included a field campaign in the western Arctic during the autumn of 2015, with in situ data collection and both aerial and satellite remote sensing. Many of the analyses have focused on using and improving forecast models. Summarizing and synthesizing the results from a series of separate papers, the overall view is of an Arctic shifting to a more seasonal system. The dramatic increase in open water extent and duration in the autumn means that large surface waves and significant surface heat fluxes are now common. When refreezing finally does occur, it is a highly variable process in space and time. Wind and wave events drive episodic advances and retreats of the ice edge, with associated variations in sea ice formation types (e.g., pancakes, nilas). This variability becomes imprinted on the winter ice cover, which in turn affects the melt season the following year.

Calibrating a Viscoelastic Sea Ice Model for Wave Propagation in the Arctic Fall Marginal Ice Zone: CALIBRATING WAVE-IN-ICE MODEL FOR MIZ

This paper presents a wave-in-ice model calibration study. Data used were collected in the thin ice of the advancing autumn marginal ice zone of the western Arctic Ocean in 2015, where pancake ice was found to be prevalent. Multiple buoys were deployed in seven wave experiments; data from four of these experiments are used in the present study. Wave attenuation coefficients are calculated utilizing wave energy decay between two buoys measuring simultaneously within the ice covered region. Wavenumbers are measured in one of these experiments. Forcing parameters are obtained from simultaneous in-situ and remote sensing observations, as well as forecast/hindcast models. Cases from three wave experiments are used to calibrate a viscoelastic model for wave attenuation/dispersion in ice cover. The calibration is done by minimizing the difference between modeled and measured complex wavenumber, using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. The calibrated results are validated using two methods. One is to directly apply the calibrated viscoelastic parameters to one of the wave experiments not used in the calibration and then compare the attenuation from the model with measured data. The other is to use the calibrated viscoelastic model in WAVEWATCH III® over the entire western Beaufort Sea and then compare the wave spectra at two remote sites not used in the calibration. Both validations show reasonable agreement between the model and the measured data. The completed viscoelastic model is believed to be applicable to the fall marginal ice zone dominated by pancake ice.