Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations
Numerical glacier and ice-sheet models compute evolving ice geometry and velocity fields using various stress-balance approximations and boundary conditions. At high spatial resolution, with horizontal mesh/grid resolutions of a few kilometers or smaller, these models usually require time steps shor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022001137/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797770519063298048 |
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| author | Ed Bueler |
| author_facet | Ed Bueler |
| author_sort | Ed Bueler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Numerical glacier and ice-sheet models compute evolving ice geometry and velocity fields using various stress-balance approximations and boundary conditions. At high spatial resolution, with horizontal mesh/grid resolutions of a few kilometers or smaller, these models usually require time steps shorter than climate-coupling time scales because they update ice thickness after each velocity solution. High-resolution performance is degraded by the stability restrictions of such explicit time-stepping. This short note, which considers the shallow ice approximation and Stokes models as stress-balance end members, clarifies the scaling of numerical model performance by quantifying simulation cost per model year in terms of mesh resolution and the number of degrees of freedom. The performance of current-generation explicit time-stepping models is assessed, and then compared to the prospective performance of implicit schemes. The main results highlight the key roles played by the algorithmic scaling of stress-balance solvers and coupled, implicit-step solvers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:23:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2fb1f68be37f445da3ab3cf226b62eb3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:23:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2fb1f68be37f445da3ab3cf226b62eb32023-07-28T10:47:45ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522023-08-016993093510.1017/jog.2022.113Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulationsEd Bueler0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8232-4145Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USANumerical glacier and ice-sheet models compute evolving ice geometry and velocity fields using various stress-balance approximations and boundary conditions. At high spatial resolution, with horizontal mesh/grid resolutions of a few kilometers or smaller, these models usually require time steps shorter than climate-coupling time scales because they update ice thickness after each velocity solution. High-resolution performance is degraded by the stability restrictions of such explicit time-stepping. This short note, which considers the shallow ice approximation and Stokes models as stress-balance end members, clarifies the scaling of numerical model performance by quantifying simulation cost per model year in terms of mesh resolution and the number of degrees of freedom. The performance of current-generation explicit time-stepping models is assessed, and then compared to the prospective performance of implicit schemes. The main results highlight the key roles played by the algorithmic scaling of stress-balance solvers and coupled, implicit-step solvers.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022001137/type/journal_articleGlacier flowglacier modelingice-sheet modeling |
| spellingShingle | Ed Bueler Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations Journal of Glaciology Glacier flow glacier modeling ice-sheet modeling |
| title | Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations |
| title_full | Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations |
| title_fullStr | Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations |
| title_short | Performance analysis of high-resolution ice-sheet simulations |
| title_sort | performance analysis of high resolution ice sheet simulations |
| topic | Glacier flow glacier modeling ice-sheet modeling |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022001137/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT edbueler performanceanalysisofhighresolutionicesheetsimulations |