A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions
The need to better understand long-term climate/ice sheet feedback loops is motivating efforts to couple ice sheet models into Earth System models which are capable of long-timescale simulations. In this paper we describe a coupled model that consists of the University of Victoria Earth System Clima...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b395954df7be4cf088a727b4632fa171 2023-05-15T14:00:44+02:00 A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions J. G. Fyke A. J. Weaver D. Pollard M. Eby L. Carter A. Mackintosh 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-4-117-2011 https://doaj.org/article/b395954df7be4cf088a727b4632fa171 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.geosci-model-dev.net/4/117/2011/gmd-4-117-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1991-959X https://doaj.org/toc/1991-9603 doi:10.5194/gmd-4-117-2011 1991-959X 1991-9603 https://doaj.org/article/b395954df7be4cf088a727b4632fa171 Geoscientific Model Development, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 117-136 (2011) Geology QE1-996.5 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-4-117-2011 2022-12-31T14:05:17Z The need to better understand long-term climate/ice sheet feedback loops is motivating efforts to couple ice sheet models into Earth System models which are capable of long-timescale simulations. In this paper we describe a coupled model that consists of the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) and the Pennsylvania State University Ice model (PSUI). The climate model generates a surface mass balance (SMB) field via a sub-gridded surface energy/moisture balance model that resolves narrow ice sheet ablation zones. The ice model returns revised elevation, surface albedo and ice area fields, plus coastal fluxes of heat and moisture. An arbitrary number of ice sheets can be simulated, each on their own high-resolution grid and each capable of synchronous or asynchronous coupling with the overlying climate model. The model is designed to conserve global heat and moisture. In the process of improving model performance we developed a procedure to account for modelled surface air temperature (SAT) biases within the energy/moisture balance surface model and improved the UVic ESCM snow surface scheme through addition of variable albedos and refreezing over the ice sheet. A number of simulations for late Holocene, Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and Eemian climate boundary conditions were carried out to explore the sensitivity of the coupled model and identify model configurations that best represented these climate states. The modelled SAT bias was found to play a significant role in long-term ice sheet evolution, as was the effect of refreezing meltwater and surface albedo. The bias-corrected model was able to reasonably capture important aspects of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, including modern SMB and ice distribution. The simulated northern Greenland ice sheet was found to be prone to ice margin retreat at radiative forcings corresponding closely to those of the Eemian or the present-day. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Greenland Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Greenland Geoscientific Model Development 4 1 117 136 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Geology QE1-996.5 J. G. Fyke A. J. Weaver D. Pollard M. Eby L. Carter A. Mackintosh A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions |
topic_facet |
Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The need to better understand long-term climate/ice sheet feedback loops is motivating efforts to couple ice sheet models into Earth System models which are capable of long-timescale simulations. In this paper we describe a coupled model that consists of the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) and the Pennsylvania State University Ice model (PSUI). The climate model generates a surface mass balance (SMB) field via a sub-gridded surface energy/moisture balance model that resolves narrow ice sheet ablation zones. The ice model returns revised elevation, surface albedo and ice area fields, plus coastal fluxes of heat and moisture. An arbitrary number of ice sheets can be simulated, each on their own high-resolution grid and each capable of synchronous or asynchronous coupling with the overlying climate model. The model is designed to conserve global heat and moisture. In the process of improving model performance we developed a procedure to account for modelled surface air temperature (SAT) biases within the energy/moisture balance surface model and improved the UVic ESCM snow surface scheme through addition of variable albedos and refreezing over the ice sheet. A number of simulations for late Holocene, Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and Eemian climate boundary conditions were carried out to explore the sensitivity of the coupled model and identify model configurations that best represented these climate states. The modelled SAT bias was found to play a significant role in long-term ice sheet evolution, as was the effect of refreezing meltwater and surface albedo. The bias-corrected model was able to reasonably capture important aspects of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, including modern SMB and ice distribution. The simulated northern Greenland ice sheet was found to be prone to ice margin retreat at radiative forcings corresponding closely to those of the Eemian or the present-day. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. G. Fyke A. J. Weaver D. Pollard M. Eby L. Carter A. Mackintosh |
author_facet |
J. G. Fyke A. J. Weaver D. Pollard M. Eby L. Carter A. Mackintosh |
author_sort |
J. G. Fyke |
title |
A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions |
title_short |
A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions |
title_full |
A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions |
title_fullStr |
A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under Eemian, Last Glacial Maximum, late Holocene and modern climate conditions |
title_sort |
new coupled ice sheet/climate model: description and sensitivity to model physics under eemian, last glacial maximum, late holocene and modern climate conditions |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-4-117-2011 https://doaj.org/article/b395954df7be4cf088a727b4632fa171 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Geoscientific Model Development, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 117-136 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.geosci-model-dev.net/4/117/2011/gmd-4-117-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1991-959X https://doaj.org/toc/1991-9603 doi:10.5194/gmd-4-117-2011 1991-959X 1991-9603 https://doaj.org/article/b395954df7be4cf088a727b4632fa171 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-4-117-2011 |
container_title |
Geoscientific Model Development |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
117 |
op_container_end_page |
136 |
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