| Abstract: | The simulated Arctic sea ice drift and its relationship with the near-surface wind and surface ocean current during 1979–2014 in nine models from China that participated in the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) are examined by comparison with observational and reanalysis datasets. Most of the models reasonably represent the Beaufort Gyre (BG) and Transpolar Drift Stream (TDS) in the spatial patterns of their long-term mean sea ice drift, while the detailed location, extent, and strength of the BG and TDS vary among the models. About two-thirds of the models agree with the observation/reanalysis in the sense that the sea ice drift pattern is consistent with the near-surface wind pattern. About the same proportion of models shows that the sea ice drift pattern is consistent with the surface ocean current pattern. In the observation/reanalysis, however, the sea ice drift pattern does not match well with the surface ocean current pattern. All nine models missed the observational widespread sea ice drift speed acceleration across the Arctic. For the Arctic basin-wide spatial average, five of the nine models overestimate the Arctic long-term (1979–2014) mean sea ice drift speed in all months. Only FGOALS-g3 captures a significant sea ice drift speed increase from 1979 to 2014 both in spring and autumn. The increases are weaker than those in the observation. This evaluation helps assess the performance of the Arctic sea ice drift simulations in these CMIP6 models from China. |
