Bulk Transfer Coefficients for Heat and Momentum over Leads and Polynyas

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Abstract
Leads and polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by pack ice. In winter, when the polar oceans have extensive ice covers and the water-air temperature difference is typically 20°–40°C, they allow enormous amounts of sensible and latent heat to escaoe from the ocean to the atmosphere. Parameterizing these fluxes accurately is thus an important part of modeling the growth and decay of sea ice. To develop a unified method for parameterizing the turbulent transfer from open water surrounded by pack ice, we have reanalyzed data reported in the literature on momentum and heat transfer over Arctic leads and polynyas. The neutral stability value of the 10-m drag coefficient, CDN10 = 1.49×10−1, is independent of wind speed and open-water fetch for winds from 1 to 10 m s−1 and fetches from 7 to 500 m. That value is slightly higher than values typical of the open ocean at these wind speed probably because of the form drag over the upwind ice or at the ice edges and because the wave field is still activ... Abstract Leads and polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by pack ice. In winter, when the polar oceans have extensive ice covers and the water-air temperature difference is typically 20°–40°C, they allow enormous amounts of sensible and latent heat to escaoe from the ocean to the atmosphere. Parameterizing these fluxes accurately is thus an important part of modeling the growth and decay of sea ice. To develop a unified method for parameterizing the turbulent transfer from open water surrounded by pack ice, we have reanalyzed data reported in the literature on momentum and heat transfer over Arctic leads and polynyas. The neutral stability value of the 10-m drag coefficient, CDN10 = 1.49×10−1, is independent of wind speed and open-water fetch for winds from 1 to 10 m s−1 and fetches from 7 to 500 m. That value is slightly higher than values typical of the open ocean at these wind speed probably because of the form drag over the upwind ice or at the ice edges and because the wave field is still activ...

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