Applying Sparse Matrix Solvers to a Glacial Ice Sheet Model

Abstract- Two software packages for solving sparse systems of linear equations, SuperLU and UMFPACK, have been integrated with the University of Maine Ice Sheet Model for predicting the formation and disappearance of glacial ice sheets. Using a library of basic linear algebra subprograms, BLAS, tune...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rodney Jacobs, James Fastook, Aitbala Sargent
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.114.3685
http://iec.cugb.edu.cn/worldcomp2006/csc4123.pdf
Description
Summary:Abstract- Two software packages for solving sparse systems of linear equations, SuperLU and UMFPACK, have been integrated with the University of Maine Ice Sheet Model for predicting the formation and disappearance of glacial ice sheets. Using a library of basic linear algebra subprograms, BLAS, tuned for the underlying hardware, these packages perform significantly better than our banded Gaussian elimination routine. Also, they are able to solve non-banded systems that can be produced by the ice sheet model, but are impractical to solve with straightforward Gaussian elimination. A modified compressed column data structure is presented for interfacing the ice sheet model with the two software packages. Test results are presented that indicate careful consideration must be given to the column ordering methods used by the packages when solving specific