A simple polynya setup from Bjornsson et al. (2001). It is good in that it tests both dynamics and thermodynamics at the same time.

The setup is a 50 times 100 km box, with one of the 50 km boundaries open and the other closed (coast). A wind (10 m/s) blows at an angle so that the ice drifts both out of the open boundary and onto the coast. Ice piles up at the coast and then moves out of the domain, making room for new ice that is created in the "polynya" that forms.

Figure: The setup from Bjornsson et al. (2001).

Figure: The results of one of the runs from Bjornsson et al. (2001).