Operational use of SSM/I ice concentration in the initialization of a coupled ice-ocean model

The Polar Ice Prediction System (PIPS), the Regional Polar Ice Prediction System - Barents (RPIPS-B) and the Regional Polar Ice Prediction System Greenland Sea (RPIPS-G) are all operational sea ice forecasting systems which have been run daily at the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) since September 1987, June 1989 and October 1991, respectively. The basis for all three models is the Hibler ice model. The Hibler ice model calculates ice drift, ice thickness, ice concentration, ice edge and the growth/decay of ice based on both dynamic and thermodynamic effects. The Polar Ice Prediction System 2.0 (PIPS2.O), a new version of PIPS, is presently undergoing its final test phase. PIPS2.0 has been modified into a spherical coordinate version of PIPS and coupled with an ocean model (Cox, 1984). Daily atmospheric fields from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) are used to produce a 24-hour forecast. PIPS forecasts over the entire Arctic basin, the Barents Sea and the Greenland/Norwegian Sea using a grid resolution of 127 km. RPIPS-B, a higher resolution version of PIPS, forecasts over the Barents Sea and the western part of the Kara Sea using a grid resolution of 2.5 km. RPIPS-G, another higher resolution version of PIPS, forecasts over the region adjacent to the Fast Greenland coast using a grid resolution of 20 km. PIPS2.0 forecasts over most of the ice-covered regions in the northern hemisphere using a variable grid resolution ranging from 17 to 33 km at the North Pole. By the end of 1994, PIPS2.0 will replace all the existing operational forecast sytems at FNMOC.