Embedded Ice Sheet Model

This award supports the development of an embedded ice sheet model, one where a section of the ice sheet (at a mesoscale) is modeled at higher resolution, but is driven by output from a lower-resolution model of the entire ice sheet (at a global scale). In addition to giving higher resolution results, it will be better able to capture the behavior of small-scale, but dynamically important, systems such as ice streams. It will also be possible with the new embedded model to include more complete physics (such as longitudinal stresses). This project will enable the continued development and application of a scientific tool, the University of Maine Ice Sheet Model (UMISM). This tool enables a better understanding of the ice sheet and the processes that control mesoscale features of the ice sheet system, such as ice streams. The key to the development of a truly predictive model is a bridge between the larger-scale physics of an ice sheet and the smaller-scale processes that exert such important control over the dynamic behavior of the ice sheet system. The results of this work will be disseminated at meetings and by publication in appropriate technical journals