Exact coefficient of restitution for sea ice floe collisions

Determine the coefficient of restitution r that characterizes inelastic, momentum-conserving collisions between sea ice floes under typical Arctic conditions, so that the stochastic discrete element model (SDEM) and associated kinetic theory can be parameterized using directly measured values rather than assumed constants.

Background

The paper models interactions between ice floes as energy-dissipating, momentum-conserving collisions parameterized by a coefficient of restitution r. All other model inputs are informed by empirical data, but r is not directly measured and is set to 0.1 in simulations, with sensitivity explored in the Supplementary Information.

Accurate determination of r would refine the SDEM and kinetic theory predictions for velocity distributions, diffusivity, and power spectra, and could influence conclusions about the energy dissipation balance between collisions and ocean drag in concentrated ice fields.