Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets
Abstract The physical interactions between ice sheets and the atmosphere and ocean around them are major factors in determining the state of the climate system, yet many current Earth System models omit them entirely or treat them very simply. In this work we describe how models of the Greenland and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002520 |
| _version_ | 1819032468905263104 |
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| author | Robin S. Smith Pierre Mathiot Antony Siahaan Victoria Lee Stephen L. Cornford Jonathan M. Gregory Antony J. Payne Adrian Jenkins Paul R. Holland Jeff K. Ridley Colin G. Jones |
| author_facet | Robin S. Smith Pierre Mathiot Antony Siahaan Victoria Lee Stephen L. Cornford Jonathan M. Gregory Antony J. Payne Adrian Jenkins Paul R. Holland Jeff K. Ridley Colin G. Jones |
| author_sort | Robin S. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The physical interactions between ice sheets and the atmosphere and ocean around them are major factors in determining the state of the climate system, yet many current Earth System models omit them entirely or treat them very simply. In this work we describe how models of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been incorporated into the global U.K. Earth System model (UKESM1) via substantial technical developments with a two‐way coupling that passes fluxes of energy and water, and the topography of the ice sheet surface and ice shelf base, between the component models. File‐based coupling outside the running model executables is used throughout to pass information between the components, which we show is both physically appropriate and convenient within the UKESM1 structure. Ice sheet surface mass balance is computed in the land surface model using multi‐layer snowpacks in subgrid‐scale elevation ranges and compares well to the results of regional climate models. Ice shelf front discharge forms icebergs, which drift and melt in the ocean. Ice shelf basal mass balance is simulated using the full three‐dimensional ocean model representation of the circulation in ice‐shelf cavities. We show a range of example results, including from simulations with changes in ice sheet height and thickness of hundreds of meters, and changes in ice sheet grounding line and land‐terminating margin of many tens of kilometres, demonstrating that the coupled model is computationally stable when subject to significant changes in ice sheet geometry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:02:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72900733cf6149119ecdae974a426c43 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1942-2466 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:02:26Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-72900733cf6149119ecdae974a426c432022-12-21T19:12:12ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems1942-24662021-10-011310n/an/a10.1029/2021MS002520Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice SheetsRobin S. Smith0Pierre Mathiot1Antony Siahaan2Victoria Lee3Stephen L. Cornford4Jonathan M. Gregory5Antony J. Payne6Adrian Jenkins7Paul R. Holland8Jeff K. Ridley9Colin G. Jones10NCAS/Department of Meteorology University of Reading Reading UKMet Office Hadley Centre Exeter UKBritish Antarctic Survey Cambridge UKCPOM/Bristol Glaciology Centre University of Bristol Bristol UKCPOM/Department of Geography University of Swansea Swansea UKNCAS/Department of Meteorology University of Reading Reading UKCPOM/Bristol Glaciology Centre University of Bristol Bristol UKBritish Antarctic Survey Cambridge UKBritish Antarctic Survey Cambridge UKMet Office Hadley Centre Exeter UKNCAS/University of Leeds Leeds UKAbstract The physical interactions between ice sheets and the atmosphere and ocean around them are major factors in determining the state of the climate system, yet many current Earth System models omit them entirely or treat them very simply. In this work we describe how models of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been incorporated into the global U.K. Earth System model (UKESM1) via substantial technical developments with a two‐way coupling that passes fluxes of energy and water, and the topography of the ice sheet surface and ice shelf base, between the component models. File‐based coupling outside the running model executables is used throughout to pass information between the components, which we show is both physically appropriate and convenient within the UKESM1 structure. Ice sheet surface mass balance is computed in the land surface model using multi‐layer snowpacks in subgrid‐scale elevation ranges and compares well to the results of regional climate models. Ice shelf front discharge forms icebergs, which drift and melt in the ocean. Ice shelf basal mass balance is simulated using the full three‐dimensional ocean model representation of the circulation in ice‐shelf cavities. We show a range of example results, including from simulations with changes in ice sheet height and thickness of hundreds of meters, and changes in ice sheet grounding line and land‐terminating margin of many tens of kilometres, demonstrating that the coupled model is computationally stable when subject to significant changes in ice sheet geometry.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002520ESMISMclimateicesea‐levelmodeling |
| spellingShingle | Robin S. Smith Pierre Mathiot Antony Siahaan Victoria Lee Stephen L. Cornford Jonathan M. Gregory Antony J. Payne Adrian Jenkins Paul R. Holland Jeff K. Ridley Colin G. Jones Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems ESM ISM climate ice sea‐level modeling |
| title | Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets |
| title_full | Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets |
| title_fullStr | Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets |
| title_short | Coupling the U.K. Earth System Model to Dynamic Models of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets |
| title_sort | coupling the u k earth system model to dynamic models of the greenland and antarctic ice sheets |
| topic | ESM ISM climate ice sea‐level modeling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002520 |
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