Noah Day: Quantifying the Influence of Coupled Wave–Ice–Ocean Interactions on Antarctic Sea Ice in ACCESS-OM3
Ocean surface waves influence Antarctic sea ice through wave-induced fracture, enhanced upper-ocean mixing, and other coupled processes, yet these interactions remain largely absent from global climate models. Here we present a newly developed fully coupled wave–ocean–sea ice configuration within ACCESS-OM3, and assess the importance of wave coupling for Antarctic sea ice. A hierarchy of simulations with progressively increasing levels of wave coupling is used to isolate the physical mechanisms linking ocean surface waves, the upper ocean, and sea ice. Model performance is evaluated against satellite-derived observations of Antarctic sea ice, ocean waves near the sea-ice margins, and wave penetration into the sea-ice cover, providing a novel observational assessment of coupled wave–ice–ocean interactions. We then determine the relative importance of individual wave-driven processes by comparing progressively more comprehensive levels of wave coupling, identifying the complexity required to improve simulations of Antarctic sea ice and examining how these processes modify sea-ice evolution across the seasonal ice zone. By identifying the dominant wave–ice–ocean feedbacks, this work demonstrates the value of explicitly representing ocean surface waves in coupled climate models and provides a foundation for future development of ACCESS-OM3 and Southern Ocean climate simulations.