ISICLES (Ice Sheet Initiative for CLimate ExtremeS) is an ASCR SciDAC Initiative responding to the national and international need for better inclusion of dynamic ice sheet modeling in Earth System and Climate models. A collective research effort involving six recently funded projects, ISICLES is expected to yield high fidelity, high resolution ice sheet modeling codes. These codes will incorporate uncertainty quantification and will be scalable at extreme scales of computing.
The ISICLES initiative also represents an expansion of ASCR's existing Computational Partnerships with the office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) for DOE's Climate Modeling efforts as computationally strong and robust ice sheet and climate codes are naturally, and critically, dependent on the correct science input.
- An effort led at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory will leverage expertise in block-structured adaptive mesh refinement to develop a parallel and scalable Community Ice Sheet Model (CISM) in the Chombo solver framework.
- A project led by Pacific Northwest Laboratory will develop a three- dimensional Lagrangian particle ice sheet model based on the fundamental conservation equations, using algorithms based on smooth particle hydrodynamics to achieve scalability.
- Using extended finite elements to capture discontinuities with "self-correcting" and algebraic multigrid methods, a project led by Columbia University will develop scalable models of the complex fracture of ice within larger ice sheet models.
- Also working within CISM, a project led by Oak Ridge Laboratory will implement the Trilinos framework around a hierarchical blocking structure for increased parallelism, using implicit solver capabilities and physics-based preconditioning to maximize scalability.
- A project led at Argonne National Laboratory will develop techniques for solving the full three-dimensional Stokes problem using hp-adaptive finite element methods, with the PETSc solvers as a base and careful consideration of the interfaces to allow forward and adjoint solutions.
- A group based at the University of Texas is developing a full-Stokes flow model with adaptive grid refinement, high-order discretizations, forward and inverse problem solving capability, and scalable uncertainty quantification techniques.
One of the largest uncertainties in current climate and sea level predictions comes from a lack of ice sheet dynamics in the models. The rapid increase in rates of ice ice melt makes its inclusion imperative. Since ice melt inclusion, prioritized by the Joint ASCAC-BERAC Report in March 2008, is still in the early stages of development, ISICLES has the potential to make a notable difference. Incorporation of advanced techniques of High Performance and Extreme Scale computing in the early stages of code creation will better ensure their effective use, rather than introduction of these techniques into established codes. ISICLES is expected to have a strong impact not only on DOE's Climate models and codes- but extend beyond to other national and international models.
Program Manager (ASCR)
Dr. Lali Chatterjee