Numerical modeling of the influence of cool skin on the heat balance and thermal regime of a water body

The influence that cool skin has on the energy exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean is investigated in this work. For this purpose, a series of numerical experiments with the use of the one-dimensional LAKE model of a water body were performed. Three types of cold-skin parameterization were used in this model. The data of in situ measurements in the coastal zone of the Black Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, and over Lake Sparkling served as the boundary and initial conditions. It has been established from the results of experiments that the LAKE model with the incorporated parameterization of the cool skin successfully reproduces cold-skin characteristics, namely, the difference between the temperature of the cool skin surface and the water temperature below the skin. The results of numerical experiments are within the variability of the results of in situ measurements. It has been shown that the presence of a cool skin reduces the heat losses of a body of water. The numerical experiments showed that the presence of a cool skin can change the thermal regime of a water body and its stratification by changing the heat balance at the surface. This result can be important for the modeling of many processes inside a body of water and at its surface, for example, gas and heat exchange.