The Science of Ice Sheets: the Mathematical Modeling and Computational Simulation of Ice Flows

Duration: 1 hour 1 min 54 secs

Share this media item:

Embed this media item:

<iframe width="_width_" height="_height_" src="https://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1326221/embed" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Choose size:

About this item

Available Formats

About this item

Description:	Max Gunzburger (Rothschild Distinguished Visiting Fellow) Monday 01 October 2012, 17:00-18:00


Created:	2012-10-04 15:36
Collection:	Multiscale Numerics for the Atmosphere and Ocean Rothschild Seminars
Publisher:	Isaac Newton Institute
Copyright:	Gunzburger, M
Language:	eng (English)


Abstract:	As a complement to the ongoing Newton Institute program "Multiscale Numerics for the Atmosphere and Ocean", we consider another component of climate systems, namely land ice. The melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica would, of course, be by far the major contributor to sea level rise. Thus, to make science-based predictions about sea- level rise, it is crucial that the ice sheets covering those land masses be accurately mathematically modeled and computationally simulated. In fact, the 2007 IPCC report on the state of the climate did not include predictions about sea level rise because it was concluded there that the science of ice sheets was not developed to a sufficient degree so that such predictions could not be rationally and confidently made. In recent years, there has been much activity in trying to improve the state-of-the-art of ice sheet modeling and simulation. In this lecture, we review a hierarchy of mathematical models for the flow of ice, pointing out the relative merits and demerits of each, showing how they are coupled to other climate system components, and discussing where further modeling work is needed. We then discuss algorithmic approaches for the approximate solution of ice sheet flow models and present and compare results obtained from simulations using the different mathematical models.

Abstract:

As a complement to the ongoing Newton Institute program "Multiscale Numerics for the Atmosphere and Ocean", we consider another component of climate systems, namely land ice. The melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica would, of course, be by far the major contributor to sea level rise. Thus, to make science-based predictions about sea- level rise, it is crucial that the ice sheets covering those land masses be accurately mathematically modeled and computationally simulated. In fact, the 2007 IPCC report on the state of the climate did not include predictions about sea level rise because it was concluded there that the science of ice sheets was not developed to a sufficient degree so that such predictions could not be rationally and confidently made. In recent years, there has been much activity in trying to improve the state-of-the-art of ice sheet modeling and simulation. In this lecture, we review a hierarchy of mathematical models for the flow of ice, pointing out the relative merits and demerits of each, showing how they are coupled to other climate system components, and discussing where further modeling work is needed. We then discuss algorithmic approaches for the approximate solution of ice sheet flow models and present and compare results obtained from simulations using the different mathematical models.

Available Formats

Format	Quality	Bitrate	Size
MPEG-4 Video	640x360	1.84 Mbits/sec	858.14 MB	View	Download
WebM	640x360	984.93 kbits/sec	440.05 MB	View	Download
Flash Video	484x272	568.57 kbits/sec	257.78 MB	View	Download
iPod Video	480x270	506.14 kbits/sec	229.47 MB	View	Download
MP3	44100 Hz	125.03 kbits/sec	56.55 MB	Listen	Download
Auto *	(Allows browser to choose a format it supports)