The Louvain-la-Neuve sea ice model LIM3.5: global and regional capabilities

We present the new 3.5 version of the Louvain-la-Neuve sea ice model (LIM) integrated in NEMO 3.6. The main novelty is the improvement of model robustness and versatility for a wide range of applications, from global to regional scales. Several modifications to the code were required. First, the time stepping scheme of the model was changed from parallel to sequential (ice dynamics first, then thermodynamics). Such a scheme enables to diagnose the different physical processes responsible for exchanges through the air–ice–ocean interfaces, as well as the online inspection of mass, heat and salt conservation properties of the code. In the course of these developments, several minor conservation leaks were found and fixed, so that LIM3.5 is exactly conservative. Second, lateral boundary conditions for regional ice-covered configurations have been implemented. To illustrate the new capabilities, two simulations are performed. One is a global simulation at a nominal 2° resolution forced by atmospheric climatologies and is found reasonably realistic although no specific tuning was done. The other is a regional simulation at 2 km resolution around the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with prescribed conditions at the four boundaries including tides. The simulation is able to resolve small-scale features and transient events such as the opening and closing of coastal polynyas. The ice mass budgets for both simulations are illustrated and mostly differ by the strength of ice formation in open water. LIM3.5 now forms a solid base for future scientific studies and model developments.