[MITgcm-support] how to initialize seaice package

[Dimitris Menemenlis]

Hi Matt, actually HeffFile is supposed to represent initial effective ice 
thickness not area.  Look at seaice_init.F for initialization logic.

First there is

             HEFF(I,J,k,bi,bj)=SEAICE_initialHEFF*HEFFM(i,j,bi,bj)

where HEFFM is a land mask.  Then there is

        IF ( HeffFile .NE. ' ' ) THEN
         CALL READ_FLD_XY_RL( HeffFile, ' ', ZETA, 0, myThid )
              HEFF(I,J,k,bi,bj) = MAX(ZETA(i,j,bi,bj),ZERO)

Finally there is

             IF(HEFF(I,J,k,bi,bj).GT.ZERO) AREA(I,J,k,bi,bj)=ONE

This has worked for me in the past so I am not sure why it is not working for 
you.  How does your initial sea ice area compare with SO6_INI_ICECONC.bin ?

Dimitris