Louvain-la-Neuve sea ice model (LIM)
Description
For more than a decade, UCL's G. Lemaître Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics has been at the leading edge of sea ice modelling. LIM (the Louvain-la-Neuve sea Ice Model) was originally a large-scale dynamic-thermodynamic sea ice model developed by Fichefet and Maqueda (1997), and coupled to the French ocean model OPA (Goosse and Fichefet, 1999; Timmermann et al., 2005). Recently, a new version of the sea ice model has been released (LIM3, see Vancoppenolle et al., 2009) with major improvements. In order to account for unresolved variations in ice thickness, several thickness categories have been included in the model. A new multi-layer halo-thermodynamic component incorporates an explicit representation of brine entrapment and drainage, as well as the impact of brine on sea ice growth and decay. LIM3 is part of the NEMO ocean modelling system and is used in numerous European laboratories involved in climate studies and operational oceanography.
Current developments
- A finite-element version of LIM is developped in the framework of the SLIM project
- Ensemble Kalman Filters are used with the new sea-ice model LIM3 for data assimilation and parameter estimation.
- An elaborate snow model is developped to simulate new features in snow-related physical processes and get a better representation
of snow influence on sea ice.
- A new rheology is being implemented to better represent sea-ice dynamics and open water production.
- Development of an ecosystem component for sea ice (Vancoppenolle et al, 2009c) by the inclusion of the SIMCO model by Christiane Lancelot and Sylvie Becquevort (ULB)
Contact
Thierry Fichefet
Related people
Sylvain Bouillon, Hugues Goosse, Christof König Beatty, Olivier Lecomte, Olivier Lietaer, François Massonnet, Pierre Mathiot, Martin Vancoppenolle
