Ice concentration assimilation in a regional ice-ocean coupled model and its application in sea ice forecasting

A reasonable initial state of ice concentration is essential for accurate short-term forecasts of sea ice using ice-ocean coupled models. In this study, sea ice concentration data are assimilated into an operational ice forecast system based on a com- bined optimal interpolation and nudging scheme. The scheme produces a modeled sea ice concentration at every time step, based on the difference between observational and forecast data and on the ratio of observational error to modeled error. The impact and the effectiveness of data assimilation are investigated. Significant improvements to predictions of sea ice extent were obtained through the assimilation of ice concentration, and minor improvements through the adjustment of the upper ocean properties. The assimilation of ice thickness data did not significantly improve predictions. Forecast experiments show that the forecast accuracy is higher in summer, and that the errors on five-day forecasts occur mainly around the marginal ice zone.

Arctic sea ice concentration and thickness data assimilation in the FIO-ESM climate forecast system

To improve the Arctic sea ice forecast skill of the First Institute of Oceanography-Earth System Model(FIO-ESM)climate forecast system,satellite-derived sea ice concentration and sea ice thickness from the Pan-Arctic IceOcean Modeling and Assimilation System(PIOMAS)are assimilated into this system,using the method of localized error subspace transform ensemble Kalman filter(LESTKF).Five-year(2014–2018)Arctic sea ice assimilation experiments and a 2-month near-real-time forecast in August 2018 were conducted to study the roles of ice data assimilation.Assimilation experiment results show that ice concentration assimilation can help to get better modeled ice concentration and ice extent.All the biases of ice concentration,ice cover,ice volume,and ice thickness can be reduced dramatically through ice concentration and thickness assimilation.The near-real-time forecast results indicate that ice data assimilation can improve the forecast skill significantly in the FIO-ESM climate forecast system.The forecasted Arctic integrated ice edge error is reduced by around 1/3 by sea ice data assimilation.Compared with the six near-real-time Arctic sea ice forecast results from the subseasonal-toseasonal(S2 S)Prediction Project,FIO-ESM climate forecast system with LESTKF ice data assimilation has relatively high Arctic sea ice forecast skill in 2018 summer sea ice forecast.Since sea ice thickness in the PIOMAS is updated in time,it is a good choice for data assimilation to improve sea ice prediction skills in the near-realtime Arctic sea ice seasonal prediction.

Application of the HY-1 satellite to sea ice monitoring and forecasting

The HY-1A satellite is the first oceanic satellite of China. During the winter of 2002-2003, the data of the HY-1A were applied to the sea ice monitoring and forecasting for the Bohai Sea of China for the first time. The sea ice retrieval system of the HY-1 A has been constructed. It receives 1B data from the satellite, outputs sea ice images and provides digital products of ice concentration, ice thickness and ice edge, which can be used as important information for sea ice monitoring and the initial fields of the numeric sea ice forecast and as one of the reference data for the sea ice forecasting verification. The sea ice retrieval system of the satellite is described, including its processes, methods and parameters. The retrieving results and their application to the sea ice monitoring and forecasting for the Bohai Sea are also discussed.

A New Prediction Model for Grain Yield in Northeast China Based on Spring North Atlantic Oscillation and Late-Winter Bering Sea Ice Cover

Accurate estimations of grain output in the agriculturally important region of Northeast China are of great strategic significance for guaranteeing food security.New prediction models for maize and rice yields are built in this paper based on the spring North Atlantic Oscillation index and the Bering Sea ice cover index.The year-to-year increment is first forecasted and then the original yield value is obtained by adding the historical yield of the previous year.The multivariate linear prediction model of maize shows good predictive ability,with a low normalized root-mean-square error（NRMSE）of 13.9%,and the simulated yield accounts for 81%of the total variance of the observation.To improve the performance of the multivariate linear model,a combined forecasting model of rice is built by considering the weight of the predictors.The NRMSE of the model is 12.9%and the predicted rice yield explains 71%of the total variance.The corresponding cross-validation test and independent samples test further demonstrate the efficiency of the models.It is inferred that the statistical models established here by applying year-to-year increment approach could make rational prediction for the maize and rice yield in Northeast China before harvest.The present study may shed new light on yield prediction in advance by use of antecedent large-scale climate signals adequately.