The progress and results of OCEAN ICE are published in deliverables and milestone reports.
This deliverable describes a feasibility study into using Ensemble Kalman Inversion to initialise coupled Ice-Ocean Models. A manuscript describing the technical details of the research has been submitted to The Cryosphere (Bradley et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2315). This report provides a brief introduction to the methods used and illustrative results from the submitted manuscript. Additionally, we provide links to public code repositories where examples of the methods are implemented, along with relevant code snippets. In performing this feasibility study, we have made four key findings:
In this deliverable, we present a year-long time series of calibrated data from two moorings deployed in the South Sandwich Trench between February 2024 and February 2025. The central mooring included nine instruments at different depths, between approximately 1450 m and 5950 m, providing a time series of temperature, salinity, and current velocities. The mooring was situated at 60°12.85' S, 25°07.36' W in a region of northward export of Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW), which goes on to form Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). Also presented is a time series of temperature and current speed from a second mooring on the western side of the trench, at a location of 60°06.49' S, 25°18.54' W. While this mooring was not fully recovered, a temperature sensor and Acoustic Current Doppler Profiler (ADCP) were recovered that had been on the seafloor for the entire deployment, at a depth of approximately 3960 m. Each time series has been calibrated, either using the data from casts of nearby conductivity-temperature-depth profilers (CTDs) or by calibrating against the nearest calibrated instrument on the mooring, and quality control has been completed to remove any unreliable data points.
The data underlying this deliverable are going to be the subject of a publication in preparation. They are going to be available here when the publication is accepted.
Surface freshening of the Southern Ocean driven by meltwater discharge from the Antarctic ice sheet has been shown to influence global climate dynamics. However, most climate models fail to account for spatially and temporally varying freshwater inputs from ice sheets, introducing significant uncertainty into climate projections. We present the first historically calibrated projections of Antarctic freshwater fluxes (sub-shelf melting, calving, and surface meltwater runoff) to 2300 that can be used to force climate models lacking interactive ice sheets. Our findings indicate substantial changes in the magnitude and partitioning of Antarctic freshwater discharge over the coming decades and centuries, particularly under very-high warming scenarios, driven by the progressive collapse of the West Antarctic ice shelves. We project a shift in the form and location of Antarctic freshwater sources, as liquid sub-shelf melting increases under the two climate scenarios considered, and surface meltwater runoff could potentially become a dominant contributor under extreme atmospheric warming.
The team published a peer-reviewed publication in December 2024: This publication covers the contents originally planned for the present deliverable.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2024GL111250
This deliverable aims to assess the connectivity of currents around the Antarctic Peninsula, identify the structure of flows carrying particles from the Eastern to Western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelves through the Bransfield Strait, and ice keel-induced breaking of internal solitary waves (ISW). For the first two tasks, we utilised circulation data from the Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas in the Whole Antarctica Ocean Model (WAOM) to obtain and analyse particle trajectories using the Parcels model. For the third task, the non-hydrostatic model was applied. The pathways of water masses were characterised by calculating Lagrangian statistical parameters: the visitation frequency and the representative trajectory. The visitation frequency is the percentage of particles P that visit each 10×10 km grid column at least once during a 20-year modelling period. The representative particle trajectory is the individual particle trajectory that deviates the least from the rest of the individual trajectories. The latter characteristic was first introduced in the field of oceanography. The proportion of particles that turn to the Bellingshausen Sea is 21% of the total number of particles, while 70% turn northeast, and the proportion of remaining on the shelf is 9%. The farther to the west, the more particles are captured by the strong ACC. So, only 3.4% of the particles were transported west of 80°W, while only 0.1% reached the Amundsen Sea (105°W). This indicates a lack of connectivity between the circulation from the Weddell to the Amundsen Seas. In the Bransfield Strait, the representative trajectories align well with the distributions of visitation frequencies. They demonstrate essential dependence on the release season and the release depth. The wavelet analysis of recent high-resolution ice keel survey data collected during the MOSAIC expedition (https://mosaic-expedition.org/), which utilised a multi-beam sonar mounted on a remotely operated vehicle, revealed that the mean keel width can be categorised into two distinct classes. In the first class, the keel width was 30-40 m in summer and winter. In another class, the zone of pressure ridging can be much larger, ranging from 60 to 110 m. Another result of high-resolution measurements was the discovery of a fine structure of ridging zones with “sub-keels” of several meter scale that contribute to the ridge roughness, enhancing mixing by ISW. The shorter ISW wavelengths, relative to the keel, lead to more intense wave–keel interactions, resulting in enhanced wave breaking, vortex formation, turbulent dissipation, and sea ice melting. Similarly, a shorter distance between keels at a fixed horizontal scale of the ridge results in enhancing the dissipation of ISW.
OCEAN ICE provides products to both internal and external users. The data workflow is based on a chain of individual operational components, each contributing either to data production or user interaction functions. The infrastructure provides open and free data access, adopting international standards and following European regulations, such as INSPIRE. It is accessible under the OCEAN ICE web domain (www.ocean-ice.eu) and offers up-to-date means of data dissemination and interaction tools.
Nevertheless, the developed system cannot be considered finally closed, and for the entire duration of the project, the following evolution principles have to be considered and applied:
- The service shall be state-of-the-art in its scope, and it shall be user-driven.
All service capabilities are defined, allocated, and implemented with sound and state-of-the-art technical and scientific justifications, addressing the needs of both OCEAN ICE internal and external users. If new needs arise, it is essential to try to match them (whenever possible).
Providing international-level, state-of-the-art tools entails constantly monitoring and applying the most suitable methodologies at any given time to meet the requirements for service quality in data processing, validation, and other related areas.
- Common standards are adopted and applied throughout the different elements of the system.
Standards are identified, adopted and applied. If, during the lifetime of the project, rising ocean best practices (OBP) become standards, the project has to try to include, as much as possible, these new OBP.
The system evolves constantly in response to service requirements, scientific and technical requirements, marine environment products requirements, and stakeholders’ requirements.
In this context, the Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) provides a global, FAIR-aligned framework to share and adopt methodologies in ocean observing and modelling. The project will contribute by submitting its practices and guidelines, enhancing their visibility, interoperability, and reproducibility.
At the European level, initiatives such as EuroSea and JERICO-S3 have strengthened OBPS by supporting endorsement processes and improving access and discoverability. The new EuroGOOS data policy (European Global Ocean Observing System, 2023), hosted in OBPS, further illustrates the European commitment to making ocean data openly available under FAIR principles. Moreover, the European Commission, through its executive agency European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), is developing the European Contribution to the OBPS (ECOBPSS, https://ecobpss-pre.ctnaval.com/home), an integrated information system to collect and disseminate standards and best practices in ocean observation. By engaging with OBPS and ECOBPSS, the project aligns with European and international frameworks, ensuring harmonisation, transparency, and long-term sustainability.
- The quality of the workflow methodology must follow and apply well-established engineering methodologies derived from industry (e.g., ISO 9001:2015, ISO 15288, etc.) to drive the definition of an adapted approach.
Data management also adopts good practices and methodologies to ensure system monitoring, fixing and reporting. 6
OCEAN ICE – GA 101060452 Deliverable D7.3
Within this framework, OCEAN ICE positions itself amongst the up-to-date data infrastructure projects, adopts the latest interoperability best practices and enables data-products FAIRness to maximise the OCEAN ICE data value chain from production to its end use for added value ocean products.
The DMP is a living document, and this deliverable presents the updated version of the OCEAN ICE DMP. To facilitate the reader's understanding of the latest changes with respect to Version 2, the updates are highlighted in green. The text highlighted in yellow instead points to the changes that were introduced in Version 2 with respect to Version 1.
The OCEAN ICE project aims to assess the impacts of key Antarctic Ice Sheet and Southern Ocean processes on sea-level rise, deep-water formation and global ocean circulation, thereby improving predictions of how changes in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets affect the Earth’s climate. To achieve this, the project integrates historical datasets, new observations and advanced numerical models, including the development of coupled ice sheet–ocean and ice sheet–ocean–climate models.
Within this framework, the WP7 Data Management team builds on the legacy of the EU Horizon 2020 SO-CHIC project, ensuring that Southern Ocean data are made findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) for the long term. As outlined in the OCEAN ICE Data Management Plan version 2 (https://zenodo.org/records/11096250), WP7 focuses primarily on in situ data. Going beyond open access, OCEAN ICE actively implements open science practices. Its infrastructure is designed to guarantee immediate, free access to interoperable data, utilising open-source management tools such as ERDDAP™, GeoServer and GeoNetwork. All OCEAN ICE datasets are seamlessly integrated into EU public data repositories to maximise visibility and usability.
This document provides an updated inventory of data collections and products currently accessible through the OCEAN ICE catalogue. For completeness and to support the Southern Ocean Observing System community, it also includes a reference list of datasets available via SOOSmap2.
The goal of OCEAN ICE is to evaluate the impacts of key Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and Southern Ocean processes on sea level rise, deep water formation, and ocean circulation to enhance predictions of how changes in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets impact global climate. To achieve this, historical datasets, observations from the period spanning 2022 to 2024, and numerical models, including the development of coupled ice sheet-ocean and ice sheet-ocean-climate models, will be employed.
The WP7 Data Management team has assumed responsibility for the legacy of the EU Horizon 2020 SO-CHIC project, aiming to contribute to the long-term findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse of Southern Ocean data. As described in the OCEAN ICE Data Management Plan (Novellino & Misurale, 2023; Novellino & Dapueto, 2024), WP7 focuses on in situ data.
OCEAN ICE moves beyond open access in implementing open science practices while adhering to the principles of FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability): OCEAN ICE infrastructure is designed to provide immediate, free access and interoperability for collected data. It adopts open data management software tools (e.g., ERDDAP™, GeoServer, GeoNetwork) and ensures that OCEAN ICE data is immediately integrable and accessible through the European Commission public data repositories.
This Deliverable D7.5 is an update to Deliverable D7.4: Infrastructure Design 1.0.
The revisions are built in on the initial version, with modifications and additions highlighted in yellow for clarity.
Four instruments measuring Temperature and Salinity were deployed on four bottom moorings during two different campaigns to the eastern (South Africa) and western South Brazil continental slope-abyssal plains intersections along the SAMBA mooring array, positioned at 34° 30’ S.
This dataset provides spatially and temporally standardized freshwater fluxes from ice shelves around Antarctica, as well as ice-shelf integrated estimates. It is based on state-of-the-art and open-source datasets (Paolo et al., 2023; Greene et al., 2022; Mouginot et al., 2017; Morlighem et al., 2019) and contains the following data files:
1- iceshelf_calving_fluxes.gpkg
2- Merged_Integrated_melt_rates.csv
3- Merged_Integrated_melt_err_rates.csv
4- calving_bmachine_grid_v1.nc
5- bmelt_bmachine_grid_v1.nc
Within the OCEAN ICE project, the deployment of six profiling floats, Argo ARVOR, perpendicularly to the Bransfield front area at the Strait has been implemented in March 2025. The floats dataset are quality-controlled and uploaded regularly with the help of Coriolis and Euro-Argo to
the https://dataselection.euro-argo.eu/ and https://www.ocean-ops.org/board
The Antarctic marginal seas are interconnected through generally westward flowing current systems such as the Antarctic Slope Current (ASC, Thompson et al. 2018 ) and the Antarctic Coastal Current (ACoC) along the continental slope and coast, respectively. The ASC is a quasi-circumpolar feature that starts in the Bellingshausen Sea and vanishes near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Weddell Sea, and is most pronounced along the East Antarctic continental slope downstream of the Ross Sea. The ASC transports various water masses, such as surface waters, Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW, >0°C), and newly formed Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), and can thus impact hydrographic conditions and processes in neighboring subregions by advecting hydrographic anomalies. In this deliverable, we quantify fluxes between different Antarctic subregions and assess their downstream impact based on output from the Finite volumE Sea Ice-Ocean Model (FESOM2).
We used FESOM2 to quantify the transport on the continental shelf and slope (Fig. 1) and find that the net exchange is much larger on the slope. The transport was split into three water masses, namely Surface Water (SW), Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), and AABW. A more in-depth analysis was carried out for along-slope transports of AABW across boundaries between different Antarctic shelf seas.
The model was able to reproduce the dominant source regions of AABW in the Weddell and Ross Seas, as well as the minor contributions from Prydz Bay and Cape Darnley (Cooperation Sea), and Adélie Coast (Dumont D’Urville Sea).
Two oceanographic moorings were recovered from Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough on 24-25 February 2025. Data have been downloaded from instruments and will be backed up on internal BAS systems before analysis takes place. Partner in charge of delivery of the milestone: UKRI-BAS.
Sea Level Anomalies (SLA) are a key parameter of the Earth Climate System. Aside from the societal impact of sea-level rise, measuring SLA allows for the observation of the upper ocean circulation on a large scale (International Altimetry Team, 2021). To do so, we rely on altimetry. With a satellite sending an electromagnetic wave and recording the echo sent back by the surface, also called waveform, most of the ocean SLA field has been monitored over the last 30 years (Cazenave et al., 2014). However, SLA at high latitudes have remained unknown for a long time. This is due to the presence of sea ice, which acts as a physical barrier for altimetry. Recently, two European groups have developed new satellite-based Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) products, offering unprecedented SLA estimates in the seasonally ice-covered Southern Ocean over the past 20 years. These products have the ability to strongly enhance our understanding of the region's circulation and variability, but have not yet been validated. This deliverable presents the first systematic comparison and evaluation of these products against each other and against independent in situ observations. When compared against each other, both products show consistent SLA estimates with a local mean squared error of 1-2 cm and a correlation above 0.7 in ice-covered regions. The overall error compared to in situ observations is 3-6 cm, reflecting typical uncertainty for these satellite-based products.
Earth system models are used for a wide variety of experiments aimed at understanding how different components (atmosphere, ocean, land, ice sheets, etc) interact with each other. These interactions can be studied under past, present and future climates. In particular, Earth system models forced by a range of plausible socioeconomic scenarios in the coming century form the basis of future climate projections within the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). There are many potentially important feedbacks between model components, depending on time scales and climate state. One such feedback is between ice sheets and climate: the climate influences the magnitude and distribution of freshwater fluxes discharged from ice sheets, while these freshwater fluxes in turn enter the ocean and influence ocean circulation and climate. Past studies have found both positive (self-amplifying) and negative (self-limiting) feedbacks related to ice sheet freshwater fluxes. Although Earth system models could be the ideal tool for quantifying these climate-ice sheet feedbacks, technical difficulties in the computational implementation of interactions (coupling) between an ice sheet and the rest of the Earth system have necessitated some important compromises in how ice sheets are represented. Detailed knowledge of this implementation is thus needed before designing related experiments. This deliverable describes how the Greenland Ice Sheet and its associated freshwater fluxes are represented within two versions of the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM2). In one version, both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are represented in the simplest way possible (effectively, as snow-covered mountains). This is the version used for the NorESM2 contribution to the latest CMIP phase (CMIP6). In the second version, the Greenland Ice Sheet is represented by a three-dimensional ice flow model that interacts with other model components, while the Antarctic Ice Sheet remains as a snow-covered mountain. This version is currently under development and is likely to participate in the upcoming CMIP7. We finally provide some examples of potentially important differences between the NorESM2 Greenland Ice Sheet and a real ice sheet.
This deliverable describes a numerical simulation of the global ocean state. This simulation has been run for over 1500 model years, so that ocean currents and seawater properties have reached a quasi-steady state. This equilibrated model ocean state is meant to be as close as possible to the real ocean state in the 1990s. We show that key features of this model ocean are indeed in good agreement with observations. We also present a methodology to subject this model ocean to perturbations in Antarctic freshwater fluxes. Finally, we introduce purposeful tracers in the model to analyse the spreading and impacts on ocean ventilation of anomalous freshwater fluxes from the Antarctic ice sheet.
As global temperatures rise, Antarctica's grounded ice sheet and floating ice shelves are losing mass at an accelerating rate, releasing meltwater into the Southern Ocean. This increasing freshwater discharge poses significant implications for global climate dynamics. We now have clear evidence that freshwater discharges from Antarctica (ice-shelf melting, iceberg calving, subglacial discharge and surface runoff) are impacting the oceanography of the surrounding oceans, underscoring the urgent need to integrate these effects into climate models. In previous CMIP rounds, models either assumed that the ice sheets were in mass balance or that discharge from the ice sheets was constant in time. Consequently, climate projections lack a detailed representation of spatiotemporal trends in ice-sheet freshwater fluxes and their impact on the global climate system, introducing unquantified uncertainties in future climate and sea-level projections. In this deliverable, we present a dataset that offers projections of freshwater fluxes from the Antarctic ice sheet and uncertainty estimates spanning from the present day to the year 2300 that can be implemented as a forcing for climate models that do not include interactive ice sheets. These projections are derived from an ensemble of historically calibrated standalone ice sheet model projections generated with the Kori-ULB ice flow model (https://github.com/FrankPat/Kori-ULB), under different climate scenarios up to 2300. We assess the sensitivity and spread in freshwater fluxes projections in response to climate forcing and a comprehensive range of uncertain glaciological processes.
This deliverable covers the training sessions on the Argo floats deployment. The training was held by OCEAN ICE partners for the staff members of the National Antarctic Scientific Center who are going to deploy these floats in Antarctica in the next months. By addressing observational gaps in the Southern Ocean, the data collected by NASC with the floats will improve the accuracy of models used to predict ice melt, ocean circulation, and long-term climate impacts. More specifically, the data will be critical in filling in existing observational gaps and enhancing the precision of climate models. The improved data will contribute to more accurate predictions of Antarctic ice melt and its global impacts.
The KPIs defined in this deliverable will allow us to monitor how long it takes from the O:I data production to its availability in the European Marine Data Infrastructures (e.g. SOOS and EMODnet), the amount of data that need further tiers of validation, the amount of data that is included in the SeaDataNet network of National Oceanographic Data Centres and IODE collections, and the number of publications. The goal of this report is to set the KPIs that will be monitored and reported periodically upon.
The OCEAN ICE web data portal is part of the Application Layer (AL) for data presentation/dissemination described in the OCEAN ICE-DI illustrated in the Deliverable D7.4 Infrastructure Design v.1.0, taking its foundation on data ingestion/connection and data service layer. OCEAN ICE-DI-AL is designed to provide the Southern Ocean community with FAIR information on physical, biochemical and metocean parameters.
This document describes the OCEAN ICE approach to interoperability, which facilitates OCEAN ICE stakeholders in consuming and using OCEAN ICE data. Notably, as OCEAN ICE supports the maintenance and evolution of SOOSmap, these interoperability requirements are designed to assist and support the SOOS community.
The goal of OCEAN ICE is to evaluate the impacts of key Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and Southern Ocean processes on sea level rise, deep water formation, and ocean circulation to enhance predictions of how changes in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets impact global climate. To achieve this, historical datasets, observations from the period spanning 2022 to 2024, and numerical models, including the development of coupled ice sheet-ocean and ice sheet-ocean-climate models, will be employed.
The WP7 Data Management team has taken over the legacy of the EU Horizon 2020 SO-CHIC project to contribute to making Southern Ocean data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable in the long term. As described in the OCEAN ICE Data Management Plan (Novellino & Misurale, 2023; Novellino & Dapueto, 2024), WP7 focuses on in situ data.
OCEAN ICE moves beyond open access in implementing open science practices while adhering to the principles FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) principles: OCEAN ICE infrastructure is designed to provide immediate, free access and interoperability for collected data. It adopts open data management software tools (e.g., ERDDAP™, GeoServer, GeoNetwork) and ensures that OCEAN ICE data is immediately integrable and accessible via the European Commission public data repositories.
This deliverable consists of several data sets obtained during the Korean Polar research vessel Araon cruise to the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica. This report consists of a summary of the data gathered - the data sets themselves will be published in an open data repository once the quality control is completed.
The analysis is made available to OCEAN ICE partners on the ftp server of partner ETT. Please note that the data will be archived in an open repository (Zenodo) for long-term access when publications in preparation are published.
This deliverable is an evaluation of the hindcast simulations performed with the Finite volumE Sea Ice-Ocean Model (FESOM2). We start with a brief description of the circumpolar ocean close to the continent followed by a short model description before we dive into a comparison with products derived from observations.
This deliverable consists of a high resolution bathymetry data set, obtained with an AUV-mounted multibeam, in an ice-covered region near Bear Ridge in the Amundsen Sea. In total we obtained 25 km2 of high resolution (1 m grid size) bathymetry. This can be compared to the resolution normally obtained from a ship-borne multibeam, which is 10-20 m. An initial assessment of the traces seen is also provided.
Various instruments were deployed during two different campaigns to the continental slopes of the Weddell Sea and Dronning Maud Land (DML).
A total of 8 ARGO float profilers were deployed between December 2023 and March 2024. This is a short report indicating the work done and the main achievements.
In this data set we present trace gas measurements and derived variables such as basal glacial meltwater (GMW) fractions and water mass ages from the RV POLARSTERN expedition PS124 in the southern Weddell Sea in austral summer 2021. The trace gases comprise the lighter noble gases, i.e., total helium (He) and the excess above solubility equilibrium ΔHe, the 3He/4He ratio reported as δ3He, total neon (Ne) and the excess ΔNe, and the deviation from the equilibrium He/Ne ratio Δ(He/Ne), as well as the transient anthropogenic trace gases chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-12) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) concentrations. From these noble gases (He and Ne) we derived glacial meltwater fractions. From the transient tracers we computed SF6-concentration ages, CFC-12/SF6 ratio ages and TTD (Transit Time Distribution) mean ages. This dataset adds unique observations-based water mass information to the circumpolar observations synthesized in WP1, and will further contribute to the evaluation of the numerical modelling efforts carried out in this work package.
This deliverable is a new dataset of sea ice production (SIP) in Antarctic coastal polynyas, critical regions for sea ice formation and dense water formation. Using Earth Observation data and atmospheric reanalysis, we use a heat budget method to estimate the SIP. We use sea ice concentration (SIC) from passive microwave sensors and ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis for near-surface wind speed and surface air temperature. Comparison against previous literature shows broad consistency in spatial patterns and magnitude of ice production, with notable variations across larger polynyas. Despite simplifications and thereby increased uncertainties in the absolute ice production values, the data set provides valuable insights into the dynamics and variability of Antarctic polynya SIP for the period 1992-2023.
OCEAN ICE provides products to both internal and external users. The data workflow is based on a
chain of individual operational components, each contributing either to data production or user interaction functions. The infrastructure implements open and free of charge data access, it adopts international standards, follows European regulations such as INSPIRE, it is accessible under the OCEAN ICE web domain (www.ocean-ice.eu) and offers up to date means of data and data products dissemination and interaction tools.
Nevertheless, the developed system cannot be considered finally closed, and for the entire duration of the project, the following evolution principles have to be considered and applied:
o The service shall be state-of-the-art in its scope, and it shall be user-driven.
o Common standards are adopted and applied throughout the different elements of the system.
o Quality of the methodology of workflow has to follow and apply, well-established engineering methodologies derived from industry (e.g., ISO9001:2015, ISO15288, etc.) drive the definition of an adapted approach.
Within this framework, OCEAN ICE poses itself amongst the up-to-date data infrastructure projects, adopts the latest interoperability best practices and enables data-products FAIRness to maximise the OCEAN ICE data value chain from production to its end use for added value ocean products.
Data Management Plan (DMP) is a living document, and this deliverable presents the updated version of OCEAN ICE DMP. To facilitate the reader to see latest assumptions, the updates are highlighted in yellow.
Net ice loss from Antarctica is predominantly observed in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, with East Antarctica close to a state of balance (Otosaka et al., 2023). The freshwater flux from the continent to the Southern Ocean is driven by solid ice flux, basal melting of ice shelves, and the loss of surface snow and ice by melt and runoff and the wind driven erosion of snow. This deliverable is a report on work carried out in work package 3 of OCEAN ICE and focuses on the processes that lead to freshwater fluxes from Antarctica, primarily the runoff of surface melt water, wind driven erosion of surface snow. Antarctica is notable for very few in-situ observations, therefore we use new state-of-the-art regional climate simulations, including new parameterisations and data assimilation to calculate surface freshwater fluxes over the historical reanalysis period. We also include some insights on observed basal melting of ice shelves from observations with in-situ autonomous phase sensitive radar (ApRES) to assist in assessing satellite based estimates of ice shelf melt.
We gathered over 600,000 temperature/salinity profiles and time series observations of essential ocean variables (here ocean temperature, salinity, pressure and currents) that are reposited in various data centres and in various formats across the world. This heterogeneity creates a significant barrier for researchers trying to obtain a circumpolar view of ocean processes. Here, we provide version 1 of two compilation datasets merging observations from an extensive set of sources, and attempting to be as complete as possible. This open dataset will provide the observational backbone for OCEAN ICE analysis and hopefully many other projects around the world. We are looking for continuing expanding both the profile compilations with the addition of early temperature measurement collected using eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT), Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT), early salinity measurement from bottle measurements, remaining mooring time series that is under embargo or under-processing with our contributor as listed above.
The four cross cutting themes (storylines) of OCEAN ICE are:
o The ‘Antarctic Bottom Water’ theme, led by Povl Abrahamsen (UKRI-BAS).
o The ‘Deep Uncertainty in Freshwater Fluxes (DUFF)’ theme, led by Frank Pattyn (ULB) and
Jan de Rydt (UNN).
o The ‘Role of the Poles’ them, led by Robin Smith (UREAD).
o The ‘Oxygen isotope’ them, led by Casimir de Lavergne (CNRS).
The four meetings of cross cutting themes were held over October/November 2023. Two of these, the ‘Deep Uncertainty in Freshwater Fluxes’ and the ‘Antarctic Bottom Water’, were held in person/hybrid during the OCEAN ICE annual science meeting in Paris (23-26 October 2023), whilst the other two, ‘Oxygen Isotopes’ and ‘Role of the Poles’, were held virtually in the following weeks. A summary of the key discussion points and actions arising is provided in this milestone report.
This milestone concerns the design and deployment of the first version of the OCEAN ICE data management infrastructure.
The verification of this milestone’s achievements is facilitated through online access to the deployed services:
Backend:
o ERDDAP: https://er1.s4oceanice.eu/erddap/index.html
o GeoNetwork: https://catalog.s4oceanice.eu/geonetwork/
Frontend Portal: https://literacy.s4oceanice.eu/intro.html
This deliverable is a report on the analysis undertaken to determine the length scales and timescales of oxygen isotope (δ18O) variations in the surface ocean based on observations. We find that there are multiple length scales, up to three (depending on the length of the segment being analysed). We characterise these length scales as being eddy (typically 100-300km), an intermediate scale (500-700 km) and a gyre scale (1000-1500 km). The spatial distribution of the decorrelation length scales indicate the pervasiveness of eddies in the Southern Ocean, while longer length scales depict the zonal nature of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current as well as the structure of the Ross and Weddell gyres. The differences in the spatial patterns suggest that at the largest scales, the decorrelation length scales are anisotropic, with meridional length scales mostly featuring the circumpolar current, while northward scales indicating the northward spreading of the Subantarctic Mode Waters. Regarding the decorrelation timescales, unfortunately, the available time series in the Southern Ocean can only suggest some interannual variability, but the amount of observations is not enough to identify the structure or driver of such variability. Scales associated with oxygen isotopes are similar to those for salinity, whereas there are some differences with temperature.
This report summarises the work performed, and reasons for the delay to the milestone.
The mooring deployment is described in more details in the full cruise report for FV Argos
Georgia voyage SS24, which will be submitted to the British Oceanographic Data Centre
(BODC), to be linked from https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/report/18630/
This milestone is related to the application of the Iterative Ensemble Kalman Filter to the WAVI ice sheet model.
Proceedings: SO-CHIC and OCEAN ICE Joint Project Conference, Sorbonne University, Paris, France and online, 24 - 25 October 2023.
As part of the dissemination and outreach activities enumerated in Work Package 9 of the EU-funded Horizon Europe OCEAN ICE project, the European Polar Board (EPB) organised a policy briefing to highlight the work, goals, and relevance of OCEAN ICE to the public. The event was titled, “The Changing Poles: how Antarctic and Arctic science helps to inform and prepare the EU for changes in sea level rise and the global climate”. The event was held in the European Parliament’s main building on 24 January, 2024 from 14:15 to 16:00 CET. The aim of the policy briefing was to raise the profile of the project, as well as to signpost project progress, expected outcomes, and links to EU policy priorities. The policy briefing was held in-person and online. As such, the policy briefing’s main audience was the European Institutions, and several high-profile EU decisionmakers were speakers. The policy briefing was streamed online, ensuring a wide reach and dissemination.
24 January 2024: Policy briefing. This policy briefing has been organised by the European Polar Board (EPB) with assistance from the European Parliament Intergroup European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD) on behalf of the EU-funded projects OCEAN ICE and Arctic PASSION.
This milestone report explains the work planned and performed during the 2023-24 Antarctic season. Task 2.4 "Observing the ocean beneath the sea ice fasten to grounded icebergs" is to deploy oceanographic instrumentation into the water column beneath Fimbul Ice Shelf, with the aim of studying the interaction between the base of the ice shelf and the ocean.
This is a preliminary report on the Milestone MSa3
The consortium met at Sorbonne University in Paris on the 25-26 October 2023. This event was also held virtually via Zoom. This meeting was organised in collaboration with the consortium for the H2020-funded project SO-CHIC allowing for overlap to encourage knowledge exchange, collaboration and networking. The meeting was in conjunction with the H2020 project SO-CHIC annual meeting (23-24 October 2023) and a jointly organised scientific conference on 24-25 October 2023. The event brought together several Southern Ocean and cryosphere scientists from OCEAN ICE, SO-CHIC, but also from other projects funded by the European Union, the European Space Agency, UK Research and Innovation, and related projects from the EU Polar Cluster and beyond. The proceedings of the SO-CHIC and OCEAN ICE Joint Project Conference are going to be made available in the OCEAN ICE Zenodo community Ocean-Cryosphere Exchanges in Antarctica: Impacts on Climate and the Earth System.
This document presents the result of the analysis of the available in situ data in the area and scope of the OCEAN ICE; it describes how to access these data, including links to sources, and presents a simplified data ingestion procedure to facilitate data exchange across the OCEAN ICE community and stakeholders, according to FAIR principles and adopting common standards.
Disclaimers: The document presents the status at the time of writing. The OCEAN ICE data infrastructure will be continuously updated with other ingested/rescued datasets, updates are planned with the updates of the data management plan. The analysis focuses on in situ data only.
Data on melt-water production has been made available and uploaded to the data servers. A detailed description of the new water-routing algorithm has been attached to this report, and circulated among project partners. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8345304
OCEAN ICE aims to create a collaborative atmosphere that welcomes diversity of thought and allows everyone to thrive, no matter their background or characteristics and uphold excellence in the science that we do together. The present document presents the OCEAN ICE Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy. The policy is published on the project website and it is a living document. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14193108
Milestone report on the fast-track data delivery on ice dynamic fluxes. This milestone is a dataset which has been made available to consortium partners on the project server of partner ETT for download via an FTP. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8195207
Milestone report on the IACS/IAPSO/OCEAN ICE joint session at the IUGG OCEAN ICE interactions – Ice sheet impacts on ocean circulation and climate feedbacks JP03/JP04 Breakout Discussion Session. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8200589
Report on the Workshop with ESA CCI and EO on ice shelf mass balance (Milestone MS6) Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8033778
Data management plan (Deliverable D7.1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8023002
OCEAN ICE Kick-off meeting report (Milestone MS17). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7386310
Proceedings: Southern Ocean & Antarctica Joint Workshop. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7472651