Benchmarking the vertically integrated ice-sheet model IMAU-ICE (version 2.0)

• Published in: Geoscientific Model Development
• Main Authors: C. J. Berends, H. Goelzer, T. J. Reerink, L. B. Stap, R. S. W. van de Wal
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2022
• Subjects: Geology; QE1-996.5; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5667-2022; https://doaj.org/article/935f130dd243436c8fb433edd0e75669

Ice-dynamical processes constitute a large uncertainty in future projections of sea-level rise caused by anthropogenic climate change. Improving our understanding of these processes requires ice-sheet models that perform well at simulating both past and future ice-sheet evolution. Here, we present version 2.0 of the ice-sheet model IMAU-ICE, which uses the depth-integrated viscosity approximation (DIVA) to solve the stress balance. We evaluate its performance in a range of benchmark experiments, including simple analytical solutions and both schematic and realistic model intercomparison exercises. IMAU-ICE has adopted recent developments in the numerical treatment of englacial stress and sub-shelf melt near the grounding line, which result in good performance in experiments concerning grounding-line migration (MISMIP, MISMIP +) and buttressing (ABUMIP). This makes it a model that is robust, versatile, and user-friendly, which will provide a firm basis for (palaeo-)glaciological research in the coming years.