Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorDella-Giustina, Daniella N.
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-23T23:21:40Z
dc.date.available2020-10-23T23:21:40Z
dc.date.issued2011-12
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/11386
dc.descriptionThesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2011en_US
dc.description.abstractThe most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change cites ice sheet dynamics as the greatest source of uncertainty for predicting current and future rates of sea level rise. This has prompted the development and use of ice sheet models that are capable of simulating the flow and evolution of ice sheets and their corresponding sea level contribution. In the Arctic, the Greenland ice sheet appears to be responding to a warming climate more quickly than expected. In order to determine sea level contribution from Greenland, it is necessary to capture the regional dynamics of the fast flowing outlet glaciers that drain the ice sheet. This work has developed a novel regional model capable of simulating an outlet glacier, and its associated drainage basin, as a mode of using the Parallel Ice Sheet Model. Specifically, it focuses on modeling the Jakobshavn Isbrae as a demonstration. The Jakobshavn Isbrae is one of the world's fastest flowing outlet glaciers, and accounts for nearly 5% of ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Additionally, the Jakobshavn Isbrae has been widely studied for several decades, and a wealth of remotely sensed and in situ data is available in this region. These data are used as model input and for model validation. We have completed a parameter study in this work to examine the behavior of the regional model. The purpose of this study was not to tune the model to match observations, but rather to look at the influence of parameter choices on the ice dynamics. Model results indicate that we have identified the subset of the model parameter space that is appropriate for modeling this outlet glacier. Additionally, we are able to produce some of this more interesting features that have been observed at Jakobshavn, such as the development and disintegration of a floating ice tongue and the distribution of observed surface velocities. We validate these model results by comparison with recent spatially rich measurements of ice surface speeds, as well as ice geometry.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNASA's Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction program (grant #NNX09AJ38G), 2010-2011 Student Research Grant from the Center for Global Changeen_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectice sheetsen_US
dc.subjectGreenlanden_US
dc.subjectglaciersen_US
dc.titleRegional modeling of Greenland's outlet glaciers with the parallel ice sheet modelen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.degreemsen_US
dc.identifier.departmentDepartment of Physicsen_US
refterms.dateFOA2020-10-23T23:21:41Z


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Name:
Della-Giustina_D_2011.pdf
Size:
4.831Mb
Format:
PDF

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record