{"dp_type": "Project", "free_text": "basal topography"}
[{"awards": "1644277 Aschwanden, Andy", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-75 -60,-72 -60,-69 -60,-66 -60,-63 -60,-60 -60,-57 -60,-54 -60,-51 -60,-48 -60,-45 -60,-45 -61.5,-45 -63,-45 -64.5,-45 -66,-45 -67.5,-45 -69,-45 -70.5,-45 -72,-45 -73.5,-45 -75,-48 -75,-51 -75,-54 -75,-57 -75,-60 -75,-63 -75,-66 -75,-69 -75,-72 -75,-75 -75,-75 -73.5,-75 -72,-75 -70.5,-75 -69,-75 -67.5,-75 -66,-75 -64.5,-75 -63,-75 -61.5,-75 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Linear Theory of Orographic Precipitation QGIS Plugin; Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) v2", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601589", "doi": "10.15784/601589", "keywords": "Antarctica", "people": "Aschwanden, Andy", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) v2", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601589"}, {"dataset_uid": "601590", "doi": "10.15784/601590", "keywords": "Antarctica", "people": "Aschwanden, Andy", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Linear Theory of Orographic Precipitation QGIS Plugin", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601590"}], "date_created": "Thu, 14 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Aschwanden/1644277 This award supports a project to study the phenomenon of the rain shadow (technically called orographic precipitation) in the Antarctic Peninsula and its interaction with a mountain range covered in ice and snow. Orographic precipitation gives rise to the largest climatic and ecological gradients on Earth. Air ascending on the windward side of the mountain range expands and cools, condensing the water vapor it carries and producing heavy rain- or snow-fall. As the air descends on the leeward flank, the air warms and dries out, leaving little-to-no precipitation. This pattern of snowfall, caused by the interaction of winds and the landscape, is hypothesized to control the shape of the ice cap itself. The investigators hypothesize that feedbacks between precipitation and topography control ice flux and temperature, impacting basal conditions (frozen versus wet) and motion, which over long time scales can affect basal topography via erosion. The authors propose to investigate the feedbacks between orographically driven precipitation, ice dynamics, thermodynamics, and basal erosion and uplift over the northern Antarctic Peninsula by coupling an orographic precipitation model to the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). Using idealized and more realistic geometries, they will begin with a 2-D flow band model, which will be expanded into three dimensions to determine the strength of the feedbacks as a function of bedrock geometry and the intensity of the orographic precipitation gradient. The Antarctic Peninsula is targeted as the ideal case study, in the context of its rapid modern and future change as well as its deflation since the Last Glacial Maximum. The broader impacts of the work include the strengthening of predictive models by capturing feedbacks related to orographic precipitation not included in current models. This is likely to provide a more realistic assessment of the impacts of orographic precipitation in a regime of changing climate. The project will support an early career scientist and a female mid-career scientist and will support one PhD student, and provide summer research experience for one undergraduate student as an REU supplement. The project does not require field work in the Antarctic.", "east": -45.0, "geometry": "POINT(-60 -67.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "ICE SHEETS; Antarctic Ice Sheet", "locations": "Antarctic Ice Sheet", "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Glaciology", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Aschwanden, Andy; Pettit, Erin", "platforms": null, "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -75.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Feedbacks between Orographic Precipitation and Ice Dynamics", "uid": "p0010348", "west": -75.0}, {"awards": "1443190 Parizek, Byron", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-130 -73,-125.5 -73,-121 -73,-116.5 -73,-112 -73,-107.5 -73,-103 -73,-98.5 -73,-94 -73,-89.5 -73,-85 -73,-85 -73.9,-85 -74.8,-85 -75.7,-85 -76.6,-85 -77.5,-85 -78.4,-85 -79.3,-85 -80.2,-85 -81.1,-85 -82,-89.5 -82,-94 -82,-98.5 -82,-103 -82,-107.5 -82,-112 -82,-116.5 -82,-121 -82,-125.5 -82,-130 -82,-130 -81.1,-130 -80.2,-130 -79.3,-130 -78.4,-130 -77.5,-130 -76.6,-130 -75.7,-130 -74.8,-130 -73.9,-130 -73))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Mon, 16 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Accurate reconstructions and predictions of glacier movement on timescales of human interest require a better understanding of available observations and the ability to model the key processes that govern ice flow. The fact that many of these processes are interconnected, are loosely constrained by data, and involve not only the ice, but also the atmosphere, ocean, and solid Earth, makes this a challenging endeavor, but one that is essential for Earth-system modeling and the resulting climate and sea-level forecasts that are provided to policymakers worldwide. Based on the amount of ice present in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its ability to flow and/or melt into the ocean, its complete collapse would result in a global sea-level rise of 3.3 to 5 meters, making its stability and rate of change scientific questions of global societal significance. Whether or not a collapse eventually occurs, a better understanding of the potential West Antarctic contribution to sea level over the coming decades and centuries is necessary when considering the fate of coastal population centers. Recent observations of the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica indicate that it is experiencing faster mass loss than any other region of the continent. At present, the long-term stability of this embayment is unknown, with both theory and observations suggesting that collapse is possible. This study is focused on this critical region. We will test an ice-sheet model against existing observations, improve treatment of key processes in the model, and make projections with uncertainty assessments. This is a three-year modeling study using the open-source Ice Sheet System Model in coordination with other models to improve projections of future sea-level change. Project goals are to: 1. hindcast the past two-to-three decades of evolution of the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector to determine controlling processes, incorporate and test parameterizations, and assess and improve model initialization, spinup, and performance; 2. improve the model by utilizing sensitivity studies with regional process-oriented models to create numerically efficient parameterizations for key sub-grid-scale processes; 3. project a range of likely evolutions of the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector and their respective contributions to sea level in the next several centuries; 4. attribute sources of errors in the hindcast and provide an assessment of the uncertainties in the projections, including a range of likely outcomes given various forcings and inclusion or omission of physical processes in the model. At present, the long-term stability of the Amundsen Sea Embayment is unknown, with both theory (the \"marine ice sheet instability hypothesis\") and observations (rapid thinning and grounding-line retreat approaching regions where the bed deepens inland) suggesting that collapse is possible. But incompletely understood physical processes (e.g., basal hydrology, rheology, and sliding; tidal effects; ice-ocean interaction along the shelf and within the grounding zone) and lack of resolution in basal topography datasets making the ultimate outcome uncertain. Thus, there is a pressing need for high-resolution simulations of this region that include numerical representations of controlling physical processes (many of which are applicable elsewhere) within a higher-order ice-sheet model capable of assimilating recent observations and providing uncertainty analyses associated with model and data limitations. By focusing on the Amundsen Sea Embayment as a connected region across the 10-10,000-meter scales using a hierarchy of one, two, and three-dimensional models along with the sensitivity analysis tools built into the Ice Sheet System Model, this project aims to produce (1) the most reliable results to date when compared with studies that consider only one ice stream or the entire ice sheet and (2) estimates of differing dynamic responses arising from errors in data, model parameterizations, and forcings. Given the uncertainties, the project will produce a range of predictions with characteristic trends that can be recognized within future observational data sets. As new data become available, some predicted rates of change could be culled from the predictive paths generated by this study.", "east": -85.0, "geometry": "POINT(-107.5 -77.5)", "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "USAP-DC; Antarctica; GLACIER MOTION/ICE SHEET MOTION; NOT APPLICABLE", "locations": "Antarctica", "north": -73.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Glaciology", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Pollard, David; Parizek, Byron R.", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -82.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Evaluating Retreat in the Amundsen Sea Embayment: Assessing Controlling Processes, Uncertainties, and Projections", "uid": "p0010054", "west": -130.0}, {"awards": "0758274 Parizek, Byron; 0636724 Blankenship, Donald", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-110.058 -74.0548,-109.57993 -74.0548,-109.10186 -74.0548,-108.62379 -74.0548,-108.14572 -74.0548,-107.66765 -74.0548,-107.18958 -74.0548,-106.71151 -74.0548,-106.23344 -74.0548,-105.75537 -74.0548,-105.2773 -74.0548,-105.2773 -74.31383,-105.2773 -74.57286,-105.2773 -74.83189,-105.2773 -75.09092,-105.2773 -75.34995,-105.2773 -75.60898,-105.2773 -75.86801,-105.2773 -76.12704,-105.2773 -76.38607,-105.2773 -76.6451,-105.75537 -76.6451,-106.23344 -76.6451,-106.71151 -76.6451,-107.18958 -76.6451,-107.66765 -76.6451,-108.14572 -76.6451,-108.62379 -76.6451,-109.10186 -76.6451,-109.57993 -76.6451,-110.058 -76.6451,-110.058 -76.38607,-110.058 -76.12704,-110.058 -75.86801,-110.058 -75.60898,-110.058 -75.34995,-110.058 -75.09092,-110.058 -74.83189,-110.058 -74.57286,-110.058 -74.31383,-110.058 -74.0548))", "dataset_titles": "Access to data; AGASEA 4.7 ka Englacial Isochron over the Thwaites Glacier Catchment; AGASEA Ice Thickness Profile Data from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica; Airborne Laser Altimetry of the Thwaites Glacier Catchment, West Antarctica; ICECAP Basal Interface Specularity Content Profiles: IPY and OIB; Subglacial water flow paths under Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica; Synthesis of Thwaites Glacier Dynamics: Diagnostic and Prognostic Sensitivity Studies of a West Antarctic Outlet System", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "609518", "doi": "10.7265/N5RJ4GC8", "keywords": "AGASEA; Airborne Radar; Antarctica; Elevation; Flow Paths; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Glaciology; Thwaites Glacier", "people": "Carter, Sasha P.; Blankenship, Donald D.; Young, Duncan A.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Subglacial water flow paths under Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/609518"}, {"dataset_uid": "601673", "doi": "10.15784/601673", "keywords": "Antarchitecture; Antarctica; Ice Penetrating Radar; Isochron; Layers; Radar; Radioglaciology; Thwaites Glacier", "people": "Blankenship, Donald D.; Muldoon, Gail R.; Young, Duncan A.; Jackson, Charles", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "AGASEA 4.7 ka Englacial Isochron over the Thwaites Glacier Catchment", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601673"}, {"dataset_uid": "002536", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NASA", "science_program": null, "title": "Access to data", "url": "http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/panoply/"}, {"dataset_uid": "601371", "doi": "10.15784/601371", "keywords": "Antarctica; East Antarctica; ICECAP; Ice Penetrating Radar; Radar Echo Sounder; Radar Echo Sounding; Subglacial Hydrology", "people": "Schroeder, Dustin; Young, Duncan A.; Roberts, Jason; Blankenship, Donald D.; Siegert, Martin; van Ommen, Tas; Greenbaum, Jamin", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "ICECAP Basal Interface Specularity Content Profiles: IPY and OIB", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601371"}, {"dataset_uid": "609517", "doi": "10.7265/N5W95730", "keywords": "AGASEA; Airborne Radar; Amundsen Sea; Antarctica; Elevation; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Glaciology; Ice Thickness", "people": "Blankenship, Donald D.; Young, Duncan A.; Kempf, Scott D.; Holt, John W.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "AGASEA Ice Thickness Profile Data from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/609517"}, {"dataset_uid": "000248", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NSIDC", "science_program": null, "title": "Access to data", "url": "http://nsidc.org/data/netcdf/tools.html"}, {"dataset_uid": "609334", "doi": "10.7265/N5HD7SK8", "keywords": "AGASEA; Airborne Altimetry; Antarctica; Elevation; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Glaciology; Thwaites Glacier", "people": "Holt, John W.; Blankenship, Donald D.; Kempf, Scott D.; Morse, David L.; Young, Duncan A.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Airborne Laser Altimetry of the Thwaites Glacier Catchment, West Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/609334"}, {"dataset_uid": "609619", "doi": "10.7265/N58913TN", "keywords": "Amundsen Sea; Antarctica; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Glaciology; Ice Sheet Model; Thwaites Glacier", "people": "Blankenship, Donald D.; Dupont, Todd K.; Holt, John W.; Parizek, Byron R.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Synthesis of Thwaites Glacier Dynamics: Diagnostic and Prognostic Sensitivity Studies of a West Antarctic Outlet System", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/609619"}], "date_created": "Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award supports a three-year study to isolate essential physical processes affecting Thwaites Glacier (TG) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) of West Antarctica using a suite of existing numerical models in conjunction with existing and International Polar Year (IPY)-proposed data sets. Four different models will be utilized to explore the effects of embayment geometry, ice-shelf buttressing, basal-stress distribution, surface mass balance, surface climate, and inland dynamic perturbations on the present and future dynamics of TG. This particular collection of models is ideally suited for the broad nature of this investigation, as they incorporate efficient and complementary simplifications of the stress field (shallow-ice and shelf-stream), system geometry (1-d and 2-d plan-view and flowline; depth-integrated and depth-dependent), and mass-momentum energy coupling (mechanical and thermo-mechanical). The models will be constrained and validated by data sets (including regional maps of ice thickness, surface elevation, basal topography, ice surface velocity, and potential fields) and geophysical data analyses (including increasing the spatial resolution of surface elevations, improving regional estimates of geothermal flux, and characterizing the sub-glacial interface of grounded ice as well as the grounding-zone transition between grounded and floating ice). The intellectual merit of the research focuses on several of the NSF Glaciology program\u0027s emphases, including: ice dynamics, numerical modeling, and remote sensing of ice sheets. In addition, the research directly addresses the following specific NSF objectives: \"investigation of the physics of fast glacier flow with emphasis on processes at glacier beds\"; \"investigation of ice-shelf stability\"; and \"identification and quantification of the feedback between ice dynamics and climate change\". The broader impacts of this research effort will help answer societally relevant questions of future ice sheet stability and sea-level change. The research also will aid in the early career development of two young investigators and will contribute to the education of both graduate and undergraduate students directly involved in the research, and results will be incorporated into courses and informal presentations.", "east": -105.2773, "geometry": "POINT(-107.66765 -75.34995)", "instruments": "EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e RADAR SOUNDERS \u003e RADAR; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e ALTIMETERS \u003e RADAR ALTIMETERS \u003e ALTIMETERS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e RADIO \u003e INS", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Ice Sheet Thickness; Ice Sheet Elevation; Glacier Dynamics; Ice Stream; Numerical Model; West Antarctic; Surface Elevation; Basal Rheology; Ice Surface Velocity; Embayment Geometry; Amundsen Sea; Hydrology; FIELD SURVEYS; Antarctic Ice Sheet; Glacier; Subglacial; DHC-6; West Antarctic Ice Sheet; Model Output; Surface Climate; Glaciers; Basal Topography; Grounding Zone; Model Input Data; Airborne Laser Altimeters; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Thwaites Glacier; Airborne Laser Altimetry; Diagnostic; Ice-Shelf Buttressing; Ice Sheet; Prognostic; Glacier Surface; Airborne Radar Sounding; Digital Elevation Model; Ice Dynamic; Antarctica; Altimetry; Antarctica (agasea); Bed Elevation; Basal Stress; LABORATORY", "locations": "Antarctica; Thwaites Glacier; West Antarctic Ice Sheet; Antarctic Ice Sheet; West Antarctic; Amundsen Sea", "north": -74.0548, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Glaciology; Antarctic Glaciology", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e QUATERNARY \u003e HOLOCENE", "persons": "Carter, Sasha P.; Dupont, Todd K.; Holt, John W.; Morse, David L.; Parizek, Byron R.; Young, Duncan A.; Kempf, Scott D.; Blankenship, Donald D.", "platforms": "AIR-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e PROPELLER \u003e DHC-6; LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION; LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD SURVEYS; OTHER \u003e PHYSICAL MODELS \u003e LABORATORY", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "NASA; NSIDC; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -76.6451, "title": "Collaborative Research: Synthesis of Thwaites Glacier Dynamics: Diagnostic and Prognostic Sensitivity Studies of a West Antarctic Outlet System", "uid": "p0000174", "west": -110.058}]
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Project Title/Abstract/Map | NSF Award(s) | Date Created | PIs / Scientists | Dataset Links and Repositories | Abstract | Bounds Geometry | Geometry | Selected | Visible | |||||
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Collaborative Research: Feedbacks between Orographic Precipitation and Ice Dynamics
|
1644277 |
2022-07-14 | Aschwanden, Andy; Pettit, Erin |
|
Aschwanden/1644277 This award supports a project to study the phenomenon of the rain shadow (technically called orographic precipitation) in the Antarctic Peninsula and its interaction with a mountain range covered in ice and snow. Orographic precipitation gives rise to the largest climatic and ecological gradients on Earth. Air ascending on the windward side of the mountain range expands and cools, condensing the water vapor it carries and producing heavy rain- or snow-fall. As the air descends on the leeward flank, the air warms and dries out, leaving little-to-no precipitation. This pattern of snowfall, caused by the interaction of winds and the landscape, is hypothesized to control the shape of the ice cap itself. The investigators hypothesize that feedbacks between precipitation and topography control ice flux and temperature, impacting basal conditions (frozen versus wet) and motion, which over long time scales can affect basal topography via erosion. The authors propose to investigate the feedbacks between orographically driven precipitation, ice dynamics, thermodynamics, and basal erosion and uplift over the northern Antarctic Peninsula by coupling an orographic precipitation model to the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). Using idealized and more realistic geometries, they will begin with a 2-D flow band model, which will be expanded into three dimensions to determine the strength of the feedbacks as a function of bedrock geometry and the intensity of the orographic precipitation gradient. The Antarctic Peninsula is targeted as the ideal case study, in the context of its rapid modern and future change as well as its deflation since the Last Glacial Maximum. The broader impacts of the work include the strengthening of predictive models by capturing feedbacks related to orographic precipitation not included in current models. This is likely to provide a more realistic assessment of the impacts of orographic precipitation in a regime of changing climate. The project will support an early career scientist and a female mid-career scientist and will support one PhD student, and provide summer research experience for one undergraduate student as an REU supplement. The project does not require field work in the Antarctic. | POLYGON((-75 -60,-72 -60,-69 -60,-66 -60,-63 -60,-60 -60,-57 -60,-54 -60,-51 -60,-48 -60,-45 -60,-45 -61.5,-45 -63,-45 -64.5,-45 -66,-45 -67.5,-45 -69,-45 -70.5,-45 -72,-45 -73.5,-45 -75,-48 -75,-51 -75,-54 -75,-57 -75,-60 -75,-63 -75,-66 -75,-69 -75,-72 -75,-75 -75,-75 -73.5,-75 -72,-75 -70.5,-75 -69,-75 -67.5,-75 -66,-75 -64.5,-75 -63,-75 -61.5,-75 -60)) | POINT(-60 -67.5) | false | false | |||||
Collaborative Research: Evaluating Retreat in the Amundsen Sea Embayment: Assessing Controlling Processes, Uncertainties, and Projections
|
1443190 |
2019-09-16 | Pollard, David; Parizek, Byron R. | No dataset link provided | Accurate reconstructions and predictions of glacier movement on timescales of human interest require a better understanding of available observations and the ability to model the key processes that govern ice flow. The fact that many of these processes are interconnected, are loosely constrained by data, and involve not only the ice, but also the atmosphere, ocean, and solid Earth, makes this a challenging endeavor, but one that is essential for Earth-system modeling and the resulting climate and sea-level forecasts that are provided to policymakers worldwide. Based on the amount of ice present in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its ability to flow and/or melt into the ocean, its complete collapse would result in a global sea-level rise of 3.3 to 5 meters, making its stability and rate of change scientific questions of global societal significance. Whether or not a collapse eventually occurs, a better understanding of the potential West Antarctic contribution to sea level over the coming decades and centuries is necessary when considering the fate of coastal population centers. Recent observations of the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica indicate that it is experiencing faster mass loss than any other region of the continent. At present, the long-term stability of this embayment is unknown, with both theory and observations suggesting that collapse is possible. This study is focused on this critical region. We will test an ice-sheet model against existing observations, improve treatment of key processes in the model, and make projections with uncertainty assessments. This is a three-year modeling study using the open-source Ice Sheet System Model in coordination with other models to improve projections of future sea-level change. Project goals are to: 1. hindcast the past two-to-three decades of evolution of the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector to determine controlling processes, incorporate and test parameterizations, and assess and improve model initialization, spinup, and performance; 2. improve the model by utilizing sensitivity studies with regional process-oriented models to create numerically efficient parameterizations for key sub-grid-scale processes; 3. project a range of likely evolutions of the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector and their respective contributions to sea level in the next several centuries; 4. attribute sources of errors in the hindcast and provide an assessment of the uncertainties in the projections, including a range of likely outcomes given various forcings and inclusion or omission of physical processes in the model. At present, the long-term stability of the Amundsen Sea Embayment is unknown, with both theory (the "marine ice sheet instability hypothesis") and observations (rapid thinning and grounding-line retreat approaching regions where the bed deepens inland) suggesting that collapse is possible. But incompletely understood physical processes (e.g., basal hydrology, rheology, and sliding; tidal effects; ice-ocean interaction along the shelf and within the grounding zone) and lack of resolution in basal topography datasets making the ultimate outcome uncertain. Thus, there is a pressing need for high-resolution simulations of this region that include numerical representations of controlling physical processes (many of which are applicable elsewhere) within a higher-order ice-sheet model capable of assimilating recent observations and providing uncertainty analyses associated with model and data limitations. By focusing on the Amundsen Sea Embayment as a connected region across the 10-10,000-meter scales using a hierarchy of one, two, and three-dimensional models along with the sensitivity analysis tools built into the Ice Sheet System Model, this project aims to produce (1) the most reliable results to date when compared with studies that consider only one ice stream or the entire ice sheet and (2) estimates of differing dynamic responses arising from errors in data, model parameterizations, and forcings. Given the uncertainties, the project will produce a range of predictions with characteristic trends that can be recognized within future observational data sets. As new data become available, some predicted rates of change could be culled from the predictive paths generated by this study. | POLYGON((-130 -73,-125.5 -73,-121 -73,-116.5 -73,-112 -73,-107.5 -73,-103 -73,-98.5 -73,-94 -73,-89.5 -73,-85 -73,-85 -73.9,-85 -74.8,-85 -75.7,-85 -76.6,-85 -77.5,-85 -78.4,-85 -79.3,-85 -80.2,-85 -81.1,-85 -82,-89.5 -82,-94 -82,-98.5 -82,-103 -82,-107.5 -82,-112 -82,-116.5 -82,-121 -82,-125.5 -82,-130 -82,-130 -81.1,-130 -80.2,-130 -79.3,-130 -78.4,-130 -77.5,-130 -76.6,-130 -75.7,-130 -74.8,-130 -73.9,-130 -73)) | POINT(-107.5 -77.5) | false | false | |||||
Collaborative Research: Synthesis of Thwaites Glacier Dynamics: Diagnostic and Prognostic Sensitivity Studies of a West Antarctic Outlet System
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0758274 0636724 |
2012-05-15 | Carter, Sasha P.; Dupont, Todd K.; Holt, John W.; Morse, David L.; Parizek, Byron R.; Young, Duncan A.; Kempf, Scott D.; Blankenship, Donald D. | This award supports a three-year study to isolate essential physical processes affecting Thwaites Glacier (TG) in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) of West Antarctica using a suite of existing numerical models in conjunction with existing and International Polar Year (IPY)-proposed data sets. Four different models will be utilized to explore the effects of embayment geometry, ice-shelf buttressing, basal-stress distribution, surface mass balance, surface climate, and inland dynamic perturbations on the present and future dynamics of TG. This particular collection of models is ideally suited for the broad nature of this investigation, as they incorporate efficient and complementary simplifications of the stress field (shallow-ice and shelf-stream), system geometry (1-d and 2-d plan-view and flowline; depth-integrated and depth-dependent), and mass-momentum energy coupling (mechanical and thermo-mechanical). The models will be constrained and validated by data sets (including regional maps of ice thickness, surface elevation, basal topography, ice surface velocity, and potential fields) and geophysical data analyses (including increasing the spatial resolution of surface elevations, improving regional estimates of geothermal flux, and characterizing the sub-glacial interface of grounded ice as well as the grounding-zone transition between grounded and floating ice). The intellectual merit of the research focuses on several of the NSF Glaciology program's emphases, including: ice dynamics, numerical modeling, and remote sensing of ice sheets. In addition, the research directly addresses the following specific NSF objectives: "investigation of the physics of fast glacier flow with emphasis on processes at glacier beds"; "investigation of ice-shelf stability"; and "identification and quantification of the feedback between ice dynamics and climate change". The broader impacts of this research effort will help answer societally relevant questions of future ice sheet stability and sea-level change. The research also will aid in the early career development of two young investigators and will contribute to the education of both graduate and undergraduate students directly involved in the research, and results will be incorporated into courses and informal presentations. | POLYGON((-110.058 -74.0548,-109.57993 -74.0548,-109.10186 -74.0548,-108.62379 -74.0548,-108.14572 -74.0548,-107.66765 -74.0548,-107.18958 -74.0548,-106.71151 -74.0548,-106.23344 -74.0548,-105.75537 -74.0548,-105.2773 -74.0548,-105.2773 -74.31383,-105.2773 -74.57286,-105.2773 -74.83189,-105.2773 -75.09092,-105.2773 -75.34995,-105.2773 -75.60898,-105.2773 -75.86801,-105.2773 -76.12704,-105.2773 -76.38607,-105.2773 -76.6451,-105.75537 -76.6451,-106.23344 -76.6451,-106.71151 -76.6451,-107.18958 -76.6451,-107.66765 -76.6451,-108.14572 -76.6451,-108.62379 -76.6451,-109.10186 -76.6451,-109.57993 -76.6451,-110.058 -76.6451,-110.058 -76.38607,-110.058 -76.12704,-110.058 -75.86801,-110.058 -75.60898,-110.058 -75.34995,-110.058 -75.09092,-110.058 -74.83189,-110.058 -74.57286,-110.058 -74.31383,-110.058 -74.0548)) | POINT(-107.66765 -75.34995) | false | false |