Theory of the sea ice thickness distribution

Abstract

We use concepts from statistical physics to transform the original evolution equation for the sea ice thickness distribution $g(h)$ due to Thorndike et al., (1975) into a Fokker-Planck like conservation law. The steady solution is $g(h)=\mathcal{N}(q)h^q{\mathrm{e}}^{-h/H}$, where $q$ and $H$ are expressible in terms of moments over the transition probabilities between thickness categories. The solution exhibits the functional form used in observational fits and shows that for $h\ll 1$, $g(h)$ is controlled by both thermodynamics and mechanics, whereas for $h\gg 1$ only mechanics controls $g(h)$. Finally, we derive the underlying Langevin equation governing the dynamics of the ice thickness $h$, from which we predict the observed $g(h)$. The genericity of our approach provides a framework for studying the geophysical scale structure of the ice pack using methods of broad relevance in statistical mechanics.

3 pages, 2 figures

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