A coupled ice-ocean model supporting winter navigation in the Baltic Sea. Part 1. Ice dynamics and water levels.

A sea ice forecasting system for the Baltic Sea is presented together with some illustrations. The model is a dynamic coupled model, consisting of both a sea ice and a storm surge model. The model was forced using wind and pressure fields from the HIRLAM system and was introduced in preoperational tests during the winter of 1992/93. In general, the results were most promising, but further work is needed, particularly the inclusion of thermodynamics to the model, a closer coupling between the ice-ocean model and the HIRLAM model, and the development of an automatic method for the generation of initial data to the model.