LIVVkit 2.1: automated and extensible ice sheet model validation

• Published in: Geoscientific Model Development
• Main Authors: Evans, Katherine J., Kennedy, Joseph H., Lu, Dan, Forrester, Mary M., Price, Stephen, Fyke, Jeremy, Bennett, Andrew R., Hoffman, Matthew J., Tezaur, Irina, Zender, Charles S., Vizcaíno, Miren
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: 58 GEOSCIENCES; Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1505335; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1505335; https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-1067-2019

A collection of scientific analyses, metrics, and visualizations for robustvalidation of ice sheet models is presented using the Land Ice Verificationand Validation toolkit (LIVVkit), version 2.1, and the LIVVkit Extensionsrepository (LEX), version 0.1. This software collection targets stand-aloneice sheet or coupled Earth system models, and handles datasets and analysesthat require high-performance computing and storage. LIVVkit aims to enableefficient and fully reproducible workflows for postprocessing, analysis, andvisualization of observational and model-derived datasets in a shareableformat, whereby all data, methodologies, and output are distributed to usersfor evaluation. Extending from the initial LIVVkit software framework, wedemonstrate Greenland ice sheet simulation validation metrics using thecoupled Community Earth System Model (CESM) as well as an idealizedstand-alone high-resolution Community Ice Sheet Model, version 2 (CISM2),coupled to the Albany/FELIX velocity solver (CISM-Albany or CISM-A). As oneexample of the capability, LIVVkit analyzes the degree to which modelscapture the surface mass balance (SMB) and identifies potential sources ofbias, using recently available in situ and remotely sensed data ascomparison. Related fields within atmosphere and land surface models, e.g.,surface temperature, radiation, and cloud cover, are also diagnosed. Appliedto the CESM1.0, LIVVkit identifies a positive SMB bias that is focusedlargely around Greenland's southwest region that is due to insufficientablation.