Air-Ice-Sea interaction

The overall purpose is to investigate the processes involved in air-ice-sea interaction, something which is quite badly represented in today’s climate models with main emphasis is on the atmospheric boundary layer over open water and sea ice and investigation of processes controlling momentum and heat fluxes at the air-ice-sea interface.

The main goals are:
1) To investigate the heat exchange between sea and atmosphere in the Svalbard fjords in wintertime, when the temperature difference between sea and air is large and the thermal stratification is known to be connected to sea ice cover and heat advection.

2) To study the effect of polynyas on the characteristics of turbulence, heat fluxes and the vertical structure of the atmospheric boundary layer.

3) To simulate (with numerical mesoscale model) the effects of different sea ice extents on regional weather conditions, such as temperature and wind patterns, in the mountainous area around the fjords.

Contact person: Professor Frank Nilsen