A strength implicit correction scheme for the viscous-plastic sea ice model

With increasing awareness of the role of the polar regions in global climate, efficient and accurate simulation of sea ice is an important issue. The numerical solution procedure for the viscous-plastic sea ice model is examined. Recent developments are drawn upon and new discretisation practices introduced that improve efficiency and the accuracy of the simulation. The main components of the new solution procedure are bounded and conservative finite volume discretisation and a reinterpretation of the model structure, including the introduction of a method to resolve momentum-ice strength coupling. It is found that traditional segregated momentum solution procedures do not ensure mass conservation, which may introduce substantial thickness errors in Arctic sea ice simulations. The strength implicit correction scheme ensures mass conservation for a similar computational expense as previous, non-conservative methods.