Applicability of Spline Approximation in Reconstruction of the Initial Temperature Water Field in the Problem of Forecasting the Caspian Ice Thickness

It is proposed to use spline interpolation in shallow water condition to obtain a continuous temperature profile (without density inversion) in a column containing layers of ice and water and a selected layer of sea bottom soil. For the algorithm work, it is necessary to know the temperatures on the ice surface and at the soil layer bottom. The temperature field obtained in this way for the northern part of the Caspian Sea was used as the initial one in the test calculation of a 3-day ice thickness forecast based on the experimental forecasting model. NCEP model data were used at all stages of the work.