Technical Report 2016-006

The ISCAL method and the Grounding Line - Combining the Stokes equations with the Shallow Ice Approximation and Shelfy Stream Approximation

Josefin Ahlkrona

April 2016

The Ice Sheet Coupled Approximation Level (ISCAL) method is extended so that the non-linear Stokes equations governing ice sheet flow are coupled with a hybrid model. The hybrid model is a combination of the Shallow Ice Approximation (SIA) and the Shelfy Stream Approximation (SSA). The Stokes equations are only solved where the hybrid model is inaccurate, which is determined by an automatic error estimation. The method is tested on short simulations of coupled ice sheet/ice shelf flow. The ISCAL method applies the SIA in the high friction inland areas, the SSA at the margins and the shelf, and the Stokes equation at the grounding line, and occasionally at the dome. A method for static load balancing of the ISCAL method is proposed.

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