Mathematics of sea ice phenomena

Ice is one of the most common materials on Earth, yet it is very different from all other known materials. Depending on its morphology and microstructure, it may behave as an elastic, brittle, viscoelastic or even as a quasi-liquid material. Moreover, ice is present on the Earth in different forms, notably the freshwater ice that occurs in the air, in ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, frozen rivers and lakes, and the many varieties of sea-ice that form in the polar and subpolar oceans. Sea-ice consists of solid fresh-water ice, liquid salty brine, gas inclusion and possibly some other components, which makes it difficult to describe.

The 'Mathematics of Sea-Ice Phenomena' programme will focus upon sea-ice mechanics and thermodynamics, and sea-ice interactions with fluids and solids. Modelling of sea-ice and its behaviour in different situations is a challenging problem that spans several areas of physics and mathematics and has massive implications in the natural sciences and engineering. The programme will advance modelling of ice-related problems giving an appropriate level of physical and mathematical rigour to such problems. This will identify problems that require the urgent attention of mathematicians and physicists and establish a scientific network on ice research with coordinated efforts to tackle existing and future problems. The programme will bring together researchers from different fields to work in groups on modern problems of ice dynamics and thermodynamics, to formulate new problems and models and to discuss strategies for their solutions. The programme also aims to bring new specialists with new ideas and non-standard approaches and techniques to the challenging problems of sea ice modelling.

Although the programme is associated with modelling floating sea-ice, other forms of ice are also included where they help with phenomenological and/or methodological understanding of sea-ice behaviour.