A parameterization of ice shelf-ocean interaction for climate models

Model results from a regional model (BRIOS) of the Southern Ocean that includes ice shelf cavities and the interaction between ocean and ice shelves are used to derive a simple parameterization for ice shelf melting and the corresponding fresh water flux in large-scale ocean climate models. The parameterization assumes that the heat loss and fresh water gain due to the ice shelves are proportional to the difference in freezing temperature at the ice shelf edge base and the oceanic temperature on the shelf/slope area of the adjacent ocean as well as an effective area of interaction. This area is proportional to the along-shelf width of ice shelf and an effective cross-shelf distance, which turns out to be rather uniform (5-15 km) for a variety of different ice shelves. The proposed parameterization is easy to implement and valid for a wide range of circumstances. An application of the proposed scheme in a global ice ocean model (CLIO) supports our hypothesis that it can be used successfully and improves both the ocean and sea ice component of the model. This parameterization should also be used in models of the climate system that include a coupling between an ice sheet and an oceanic component. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.