Wave-Ice-Ocean Interactions along the Arctic Coast

北极海岸线，特别是阿拉斯加北部海岸，正以每年几米的速度被侵蚀。由于季节性海冰的减少为秋季风暴带来了巨大的影响，沿海洪水事件正变得越来越常见。该项目将提高对与海岸侵蚀和洪水有关的海洋学因素的理解，特别是整个北极西部表面波活动增加的趋势。研究人员将结合实地观察和一个耦合建模系统来量化阿拉斯加北部海岸的波浪-冰-海洋相互作用。结果将是一个开源的、基于过程的建模系统，包括阿拉斯加北部沿海地区的模型网格和测试用例。这将提高基础研究、公共基础设施规划、气候情景评估和决策能力。公共宣传将包括K-12活动和公共研讨会，该项目将为博士后研究员提供培训。了解北极沿岸的波浪-冰-海洋相互作用对于提高该地区的预报和气候模式的技能至关重要。这些相互作用仍然是基础研究的焦点，因为与这些过程相关的复杂性和可能的非线性。该项目将快速变化的气候学与对北极沿海海洋至关重要的物理过程联系起来，在大范围的空间和时间尺度上结合自然变率。研究人员将应用基于过程的沿海动力学建模的最新进展，为模型验证和校准提供详细的沿海实地观测，并生成20年的后发预测。然后将利用后播来研究北极波冰海洋耦合的气候信号，并确定：1)通过海冰对波的散射和耗散来保护海岸的意义；2)波能增加的热力学和力学效应；3)与波浪动量增加有关的沿海洪水和环流的变化。这些结果将填补最近在深海中模拟波冰相互作用的进展与研究海岸线侵蚀的现有项目之间的空白。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Arctic coastlines, and in particular the northern coast of Alaska, are eroding at rates of meters per year. Coastal flooding events are becoming more common, as reductions in seasonal sea ice create large fetches for autumn storms. This project will improve understanding of oceanographic factors associated with coastal erosion and flooding, specifically the trend toward increasing surface wave activity throughout the western Arctic. The investigators will combine field observations and a coupled modeling system to quantify wave-ice-ocean interactions along the Alaska's northern coast. The outcome will be an open-source, process-based modeling system, including model grids and test cases for the northern Alaska coastal zone. This will enhance basic research, public infrastructure planning, climate scenario assessment, and policy-making capability. Public outreach will include K-12 events and public seminars, and the project will provide training for a postdoctoral researcher. Understanding wave-ice-ocean interactions along the Arctic coast is essential to improving the skill of forecast and climate models in the region. These interactions continue to be a focal point for basic research because of the complexities and possible nonlinearities associated with these processes. The project will connect a rapidly changing climatology with the physical processes that are fundamental to Arctic coastal ocean, incorporating natural variability on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The investigators will apply recent progress in process-based modeling of coastal dynamics, provide detailed field observations along the coast for model validation and calibration, and generate a 20-year hindcast. The hindcast will then be used to investigate the climate signals in Arctic wave-ice-ocean coupling and determine: 1) the significance of coastal protection via scattering and dissipation of waves by sea ice; 2) the thermodynamic and mechanical effects of increasing wave energy; and 3) the changes in coastal flooding and circulation associated with increasing wave momentum. These results will fill a gap between the recent progress modeling wave-ice interactions in deep-water and existing programs studying erosion at the shoreline.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.