Ice-sheet model
In climate modelling, Ice-sheet models use numerical methods to simulate the evolution, dynamics and thermodynamics of ice sheets, such as the Greenland ice sheet, the Antarctic ice sheet or the large ice sheets on the northern hemisphere during the last glacial period. They are used for a variety of purposes, from studies of the glaciation of Earth over glacial–interglacial cycles in the past to projections of ice-sheet decay under future global warming conditions.
History
Beginning in the mid-18th Century, investigation into ice sheet behavior began.[1] Since the Journal of Glaciology's founding, physicists have been publishing glacial mechanics.[1]
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The first 3-D model was applied to the Barnes Ice Cap.[1] In 1988, the first thermodynamically coupled model incorporating ice-shelves, sheet/shelf transition, membrane stress gradients, isotatic bed adjustment and basal sliding using more advanced numerical techniques was developed and applied to the Antarctic ice sheet.[1] This model had a resolution of 40km and 10 vertical layers.[1]
See also
Ice-sheet models on the web
- CISM - Community Ice Sheet Model, under development as a land-ice component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM).
- Elmer/Ice, a multi-physics finite element code with special modules for full-stress ice dynamics analysis
- ISSM - Ice Sheet System Model, a multi-purpose massively parallelized finite element framework dedicated to ice sheet systems modeling (thermomechanical coupling, data assimilation, sensitivity analysis,...)
- PISM - Parallel Ice Sheet Model, which includes ice shelves and ice streams.
- SICOPOLIS - SImulation COde for POLythermal Ice Sheets, a 3D ice-sheet model which accounts for polythermal conditions (coexistence of ice at and below the melting point in different parts of an ice sheet).
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- ^ a b c d e Blatter, Heinz; Greve, Ralf; Abe-Ouchi, Ayako (2010). "A short history of the thermomechanical theory and modeling of glaciers and ice sheets". Journal of Glaciology. 56 (200): 1087–1094. doi:10.3189/002214311796406059. ISSN 0022-1430.