Parameter-based generator for ice floe fields

With decreasing ice thickness and ice extension in summer, shipping in and close to ice-covered areas and the marginal ice zone are of raising interest. To determine the exact forces due to the icebreaking and to enable a more precise and less over dimensioned design of ice-going vessels, models can be a helpful tool. To use these models to simulate the icebreaking process, the ice has to be modelled as well. This work presents a new randomized approach for the generation of ice floe fields based on common simple ice observation parameters and reflecting the real ice floe arrangement: The ice floe field is modified by constrained optimization after the ice floes are placed randomly. The generated ice floe fields are evaluated for different parameter sets, to determine the influence and sensitivity of the different ice observation parameters. The filling of the parameter space depending on the number of generated floe fields per parameter set is estimated. Furthermore, suggestions on how to use these floe fields are given.

Subjects

Ice coverage

Ice field generation

Ice floe arrangement

Monte Carlo simulation

DDC Class

600: Technology

Options

Parameter-based generator for ice floe fields