Using numerical models to interrogate a specific hypothesis can be a useful way to facilitate learning and better understand a physical system. Students in the Fluid Dynamics course at the University of Maine used a modeling approach to explore whether Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica would become unstable within the next century. The course investigated different aspects of the physical system such as ice shelf melt from a warm water mass at depth (Circumpolar Deep Water), forcings from mass accumulation on the surface, and effects of basal drag and rheology with a finite-element solution for ice flow using the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) and a coupled ocean-atmosphere mixing solution using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method. This webinar goes through the basic inner-workings of our models, results, and comparison with in situ observations. We will walk through each of the four parts of this collaborative project: (1) constraining horizontal Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) circulation from ocean measurements, (2) surface mass balance (SMB) and heterogeneous basal melt, (3) basal resistance, shear heating and temperature distribution, and (4) vertical circulation of CDW in an atmosphere-ocean coupled model. Finally, we present an evaluation of Thwaites' stability based on our group modeling and reflect on the usefulness of involved collaborative modeling in the classroom.
Please register here for joining the webinar "An example of collaborative modeling in the classroom to address a specific hypothesis: the stability of Thwaites Glacier" to take place on May 8, 2019 at 10am EST (2pm GMT), by no later than May 7th to ensure you get the webinar link in time.
If you have any questions, please contact Mariama Dryak (mariama.dryak@gmail.com).
