Assessing the role of oceanic heat fluxes on ice ablation on the Chukchi Sea Shelf

This study investigates the role of oceanic heat flux convergences in the summertime retreat of sea ice over the central Chukchi Sea. The Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) is used to: 1) determine the contributions to ice melt from the oceanic heat flux compare to that from the net air-sea heat flux into the ice surface; 2) evaluate the role of mesoscale fluctuations versus the mean background flow in providing this sub-surface heat flux; and 3) evaluate the role of bathymetry in modifying the subsurface heat flux to the ice. Therefore, we supply the ROMS input files, including the header scripts, grid file, ocean initial condition, Bering Strait inflow forcing and atmospheric forcing files. We also provide the MATLAB scripts to generate the grid file, ocean initial condition and inflow forcing, thereby users can easily customize the model and reproduce the model results with different Bering Strait inflow properties.