Theory of the Sea Ice Thickness Distribution.
Phys Rev Lett
; 115(14): 148501, 2015 Oct 02.
Article
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| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26551827
ABSTRACT
We use concepts from statistical physics to transform the original evolution equation for the sea ice thickness distribution g(h) from Thorndike et al. into a Fokker-Planck-like conservation law. The steady solution is g(h)=N(q)h(q)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 hâª1, g(h) is controlled by both thermodynamics and mechanics, whereas for hâ«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.
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MEDLINE
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En
Revista:
Phys Rev Lett
Año:
2015
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Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos