Ocean Climate Model Meeting, GFDL, 2009

Coupled ice-sheet ocean modelling activity in Bergen

Mats Bentsen1,2, Lars Henrik Smedsrud3,2, Svein Østerhus3,2, Helge Drange3,2

1Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center2Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research3Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen

Ocean Climate Model Meeting, GFDL, 2009

Previous and current activities

• Field measurements of Antarctic ice shelves including Filchner-Ronne, Ross, and Fimbul. Main emphasis on hydrography and water mass formation beneath the ice shelves.

• Some coupled ice-sheet ocean modelling with the MICOM version modified by Holland and Jenkins.

Ocean Climate Model Meeting, GFDL, 2009

Our motivation for coupled ice-sheet ocean modelling

• Incorporate ice-sheet component in our Earth System Model to improve the modelled formation of significant global water masses and sea level predictions.

• Do regional high resolution modelling to complement the observation based activities in Bergen.

• The numerics of the ocean model we use should be well suited for coupling to ice shelves.

Potential collaborators

• Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway

• Department of Geoscience, University of Oslo, Norway

• Contributors to the Community System Climate Model

• British Antarctic Survey

• Courant Institute, New York University