NOrdic CryOsphere Digital Twin boosts digital twin technology in the Nordic and Baltic cryosphere context – Six use cases now online
The European Arctic area is one of the hot spots of climate change. The observed air temperature change is 3–4 times larger than the global average. To tackle this issue, we need also local investigation developing and using advanced Nordic technology. This brings the Destination Earth (DestinE) developing a highly-accurate digital model of the Earth (a digital twin of the Earth) high on the agenda also in the Nordics and Baltics.
The NOrdic CryOsphere Digital Twin (NOCOS DT), funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers aims to explore and pilot the digital twin technology opportunities (project lifetime: February 2023 – July 2024). The project will provide use cases on cryosphere, specifically on sea ice, with a strong focus on the Nordic and Baltic areas. It strives to showcase how output from Destination Earth (DestinE) and the Climate Change Adaptation Digital Twin (Climate DT) could be leveraged for key sea ice impact sectors in the Nordic and Baltic contexts.
NOCOS DT is an ambitious project supporting the Vision 2030 in which the Nordic prime ministers declared that the Nordic Region will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world. It aims to enhance the Nordic activities to follow the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030).
Factsheets Describe the Use Cases in Development of Technologies for Cryosphere Modelling
NOCOS DT has published six factsheets providing an overview of its use cases boosting cryosphere-related research technology in the Nordics and Baltics. The emphasis of these use cases remains at the interface between science and policy. They will feed into the Arctic and Baltic contribution to the climate change information system developed by the Climate Adaptation Digital Twin. Read the project overview.
- Ship Navigation Risk Indicator
(led by Finnish Meteorological Institute)
The Ship Navigation Risk Indicator improves information on navigability in ice-covered sea. The method developed will calculate a navigation risk indicator similar to the Risk Index Outcome from its model data. The model enables estimating probabilities of sea ice extremes. The Open-source code will be published on GitHub for scientific use, and the forecast of risk index can be provided to shipping companies. Read more about this use case on the factsheet.
- Marginal Ice Zone – New parameter from sea ice and climate models
(led by Norwegian Meteorological Institute)
Marginal ice zone is a transitional zone between open sea and dense drift ice where many important physical and biological processes take place. A new parameter will be developed from sea ice and climate models to provide improved knowledge on regular monitoring and prediction of the marginal ice zone in the Nordic seas. These include information on locations, weekly evolution and statistics. The new parameter will be useful for fisheries, offshore oil and gas industry as well as shipping and marine tourism companies that operate close to the sea ice edge. Research vessels for the marginal ice zone and biological and ecological studies will also benefit from it. Read more about the new parameter on the factsheet.
- Landfast Ice – Analysis tool diagnosing the time period for landfast ice in present and future climate
(led by Danish Meteorological Institute)
Landfast sea ice is used in various ways: in Greenland for hunting and fishing, in the Baltic region for winter roads and recreational activities such as skiing and ice fishing. Knowledge of landfast sea ice dynamics is important for the design of the offshore installations such as for wind farms. Simulating landfast ice requires resolving physical processes near coasts. This is where the creation of an analysis tool becomes essential – a tool that diagnoses the time period for landfast ice in the present and future climate. The tool can be used by people travelling on sea ice and by decision-makers that are planning when it is feasible to travel on ice or to install offshore constructions in ice-covered areas. Read more about the analysis tool on the factsheet.
- Ridged Ice – An application innovating calculation of ridged ice probability
(led by Tallinn University of Technology, Department for Marine Systems)
Ridged ice often occurs in areas that coincide with the interest area of coastal developers. Knowledge of expected changes in ridged ice will help to increase the safety of wintertime navigation and marine activities as well as to prevent ice-related hazards for coastal structures. The application can be used by wind farms, aquafarms and Floating Storage Regasification Units as well as such as Maritime Authorities, Shipping Companies, Fishing and Aquaculture Industry and Insurance Companies. Read more about this innovative application on the factsheet.
- Marine Spatial Planning – Pilot utilization of data of climate models in the related platforms
(led by Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute)
Climate change causes quickly changing environmental conditions, new potential activities and pressures. In order to provide information on ocean and sea changes for decision making, new high-resolution ocean and sea-ice model projections are developed. These model projections will be integrated into Marine Spatial Planning platforms. The data can be used by marine spatial planners and managers as well as by policy and decision makers. Facilitating access to the data through the unprecedented capabilities of Destination Earth is a breakthrough into managing the seas better. Read more about the pilot on its respective factsheet.
- Discrete Element Model (DEM) based sea ice model development
(led by CSC – IT Center for Science)
The project will develop a Discrete Element Model based computer code for high-performance computing to be used for sea ice simulations. The model improves forecasting of sea ice break-up. In the long run, it will increase the understanding of long-term changes in the behavior of drift ice in the warming climate. In the first phase, the code can be used by scientists. Later on, it can be used by forecast providers. Read more about the Discrete Element Model based sea ice model on the respective factsheet.
Who is involved in the NOCOS DT?
The project is coordinated by CSC – IT Center for Science (CSC). The partners involved are Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MetNo), Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) and the Tallinn University of Technology, Department for Marine Systems (TalTech).
For more information about the NOCOS DT: nocos@listat.csc.fi