The Framework For Ice Sheet–Ocean Coupling (FISOC) V1.1
<p>A number of important questions concern processes at the margins of ice sheets where multiple components of the Earth system, most crucially ice sheets and oceans, interact. Such processes include thermodynamic interaction at the ice–ocean interface, the impact of meltwater on ice shelf cav...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Geoscientific Model Development |
| Online Access: | https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/14/889/2021/gmd-14-889-2021.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>A number of important questions concern processes at the margins of
ice sheets where multiple components of
the Earth system, most crucially ice sheets and oceans, interact.
Such processes include thermodynamic interaction at
the ice–ocean interface, the impact of meltwater on
ice shelf cavity circulation, the impact of
basal melting of ice shelves on grounded ice dynamics
and ocean controls on iceberg calving.
These include fundamentally coupled processes
in which feedback mechanisms between ice and
ocean play an important role.
Some of these mechanisms have major implications for humanity, most notably the impact of retreating
marine ice sheets on the global sea level.
In order to better quantify these mechanisms using computer models,
feedbacks need to be incorporated into the modelling system.
To achieve this, ocean and ice dynamic models must be coupled, allowing runtime information sharing
between components.
We have developed a flexible coupling framework based on existing Earth system coupling
technologies.
The open-source Framework for Ice Sheet–Ocean Coupling (FISOC) provides a modular approach to
coupling,
facilitating switching between different ice dynamic and ocean components.
FISOC allows fully synchronous coupling, in which both ice and ocean run on the same time step, or
semi-synchronous coupling in which the ice dynamic model uses a longer time step.
Multiple regridding options are available, and there are multiple methods for coupling the sub-ice-shelf cavity geometry.
Thermodynamic coupling
may also be activated.
We present idealized simulations using FISOC with a Stokes flow ice dynamic model coupled to a
regional ocean model.
We demonstrate the modularity of FISOC by switching
between two different regional ocean models and
presenting outputs for both.
We demonstrate conservation of mass and other verification steps during evolution of an idealized coupled
ice–ocean system, both with and without grounding line movement.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1991-959X 1991-9603 |