Project Grant 2237964

This three-year, $411,911 National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs project grant will fund research to advance sea ice floe-size distribution and wave-ice interaction modeling capabilities within fully-coupled Earth system models. The University of Washington will receive funding to incorporate prognostic floe-size distribution components into widely-used sea ice and wave models, and parameterize wave attenuation in sea ice through data assimilation methods. Model code improvements will be integrated into a community Earth system model to enable the first simulations quantifying the role of dynamic sea ice fracture in the coupled climate system. It is expected that incorporating these new sea ice dynamics will strengthen Arctic climate feedbacks and improve the model's predictive capability. Outcomes will include publications, course curriculum enhancements, and public lectures disseminating findings on sea ice responses to storms and other climate change dynamics in the polar regions. This award furthers the NSF Polar Programs mission of expanding fundamental polar region knowledge through basic research best conducted in or requiring presence in polar areas.