This study investigates the effect of sea ice on the pollutant transport under an extreme cold wave weather condition as a measure of water exchange in the Bohai Sea using a coupled three-dimensional numerical model that includes the hydrodynamic FVCOM, sea ice, and Lagrange particle tracking models. The results show that the water exchange ability is inhibited by sea ice due to the presence of a clockwise residual circulation in Liaodong Bay. However, the sea ice enhances the water exchange capacity in Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay when compared with those without ice. When particle mixing in three bays is considered, the percentage of residual pollutant particles in Laizhou Bay is 33.5% greater than that without particle mixing after a simulation of severe ice age. Finally, sensitivity analysis is conducted on the number of tracer particles, and the rationality of the model results is discussed based on measured chlorophyll-a concentration.

Bohai Sea, water exchange, sea ice, residual current, Lagrangian particles