Brief communication: Impact of mesh resolution for MISMIP and MISMIP3d experiments using Elmer/Ice

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: O. Gagliardini, J. Brondex, F. Gillet-Chaulet, L. Tavard, V. Peyaud, G. Durand
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
• Subjects: geo; envir; Ice Sheet; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-307-2016; http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/307/2016/tc-10-307-2016.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/f6cf0e726b994cdaa27b54c416eed2c1

The dynamical contribution of marine ice sheets to sea level rise is largely controlled by grounding line (GL) dynamics. Two marine ice sheet model intercomparison exercises, namely MISMIP and MISMIP3d, have been proposed to the community to test and compare the ability of models to capture the GL dynamics. Both exercises are known to present a discontinuity of the friction at the GL, which is believed to increase the model sensitivity to mesh resolution. Here, using Elmer/Ice, the only Stokes model which completed both intercomparisons, the sensitivity to the mesh resolution is studied from an extended MISMIP experiment in which the friction continuously decreases over a transition distance and equals zero at the GL. Using this MISMIP-like setup, it is shown that the sensitivity to the mesh resolution is not improved for a vanishing friction at the GL. For the original MISMIP experiment, i.e. for a discontinuous friction at the GL, we further show that the results are moreover very sensitive to the way the friction is interpolated in the close vicinity of the GL. In the light of these new insights, and thanks to increased computing resources, new results for the MISMIP3d experiments obtained for higher resolutions than previously published are made available for future comparisons as the Supplement.