A numerical stabilization scheme for the shallow shelf approximation

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Dolling, Tilda Westling, Henry, A. Clara J., Ahlkrona, Josefin
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Dolling, Tilda Westling
Henry, A. Clara J.
Ahlkrona, Josefin
author_facet Dolling, Tilda Westling
Henry, A. Clara J.
Ahlkrona, Josefin
contents We present the Thickness Stabilization Scheme (TSS), a numerical stabilization scheme suitable for the Shallow Shelf Approximation (SSA), one of the most widely-used models for large-scale Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet simulations. The TSS is constructed by inserting an adapted, explicit Euler thickness evolution equation into the driving stress term, thereby treating the term implicitly. We investigate the applicability of TSS across low- and high-shear idealized scenarios, by altering the inflow velocity and initial ice thickness. TSS demonstrates an increase in the numerical stability of SSA, allowing large time-step sizes of dt = 50-100 years to remain numerically stable and accurate, while time-step sizes of dt > 5 in high-shear simulations show significant error without TSS. Remarkably, a time step size as large as dt = 10 000 years is numerically stable with TSS, albeit with a reduction in accuracy. TSS offers greater flexibility for ice-sheet modeling by allowing the re-allocation of computational resources. This method is applicable not only to ice-sheet modeling, including in coupled frameworks, but also to other vertically-integrated computational fluid dynamics problems that couple momentum and geometry evolution equations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_02943
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A numerical stabilization scheme for the shallow shelf approximation
Dolling, Tilda Westling
Henry, A. Clara J.
Ahlkrona, Josefin
Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
We present the Thickness Stabilization Scheme (TSS), a numerical stabilization scheme suitable for the Shallow Shelf Approximation (SSA), one of the most widely-used models for large-scale Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet simulations. The TSS is constructed by inserting an adapted, explicit Euler thickness evolution equation into the driving stress term, thereby treating the term implicitly. We investigate the applicability of TSS across low- and high-shear idealized scenarios, by altering the inflow velocity and initial ice thickness. TSS demonstrates an increase in the numerical stability of SSA, allowing large time-step sizes of dt = 50-100 years to remain numerically stable and accurate, while time-step sizes of dt > 5 in high-shear simulations show significant error without TSS. Remarkably, a time step size as large as dt = 10 000 years is numerically stable with TSS, albeit with a reduction in accuracy. TSS offers greater flexibility for ice-sheet modeling by allowing the re-allocation of computational resources. This method is applicable not only to ice-sheet modeling, including in coupled frameworks, but also to other vertically-integrated computational fluid dynamics problems that couple momentum and geometry evolution equations.
title A numerical stabilization scheme for the shallow shelf approximation
topic Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.02943