WORK PACKAGE 4

Improved sea-ice mapping and forecasting

Objectives

The tasks in the WP4 address all the following objectives:

1) Evaluate current operational European capabilities for sea-ice mapping and forecasting.
Status to date. Pending. Detailed documentation on current operational capabilities for sea-ice mapping for marine purposes have been made available in the form of a report. An evaluation of current practices for producing sea-ice ECV is ongoing. The assessment of current sea-ice forecasting capabilities is complete and available to view below.

2) Identify potential for better collaboration across institutes and countries.
Status to date. Complete. This task involved repeated and extensive consultation between operational and research institutions both within and from outside the project consortium has already led to the shared acknowledgement of current gaps and future potential, which is the first step towards better collaboration, more efficient research and development, and the eventual implementation of new services that provide real value to the user. The task has documented current practices and recommended improvements for producing climate records for sea ice, preparing and distributing a questionnaire for producers of sea-ice climate records. WP4 has also engaged with a consultation about ECV requirements initiated by WMO GCOS, which has fed into the final reports available below.

3) Make recommendations for key developments that can result in better, more useful products for stakeholders.
Status to date. Pending. This tasks activities were mostly concerned with building up an understanding of the gaps between the requirements of marine users of sea-ice forecasts, and the current capacities and priorities of operational forecast centres. It included a detailed compilation of forecast-specific user requirements, drawing on results from WP1, and in-house knowledge of the ice services as well as outcomes of other research projects in the EU Polar Cluster. This has been contrasted with current practices and capabilities of operational forecasting centres. A gap analysis laid the foundation for the recommendations that research and development activities would need to make useful sea-ice forecast products available to marine users. A number of recommendations have already been identified, discussed and shared within the consortium through presentations at several in-person and remote meetings, and in the reports available to view below.

Tasks

T4.1 Sea-ice mapping for maritime purposes.	Antti Kangas
T4.2 Monitoring sea-ice as an essential climate variable (ECV).	Thomas Lavergne
T4.3 Assess the scope for sea-ice forecast products.	Steffen Tietsche

Output

WP4 documented the current European practices and capabilities of mapping and forecasting sea ice, comparing them against user requirements, and producing recommendations on how sea-ice mapping and forecasting services could be improved. The assessment of the current state and the comparison with user requirements have been completed. This comparison has revealed a number of important gaps. Some of these can be closed in the short term, with better coordination and collaboration between different actors, others require long-term research and development. The final set of recommendations are available to view below. The final report, D4.2 is pending completion.

Deliverables

Report	Publication Date	Status
D4.1 Harmonisation and improvement of sea ice mapping products	June 2020	✔️
D4.2 Recommendations for improved sea ice ECV records	Oct 2020	Pending
D4.3 Recommendations for more user-relevant sea-ice forecasts	Aug 2020	✔️