scholarly journals Scaling of instability time-scales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on one-dimensional similitude analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Levermann ◽  
Johannes Feldmann

Abstract. Recent observations and ice-dynamic modeling suggest that a marine ice sheet instability (MISI) might have been triggered in West Antarctica. The corresponding outlet glaciers, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and Thwaites Glacier (TG), showed significant retreat during at least the last two decades. While other regions in Antarctica have the topographic predisposition for the same kind of instability it is so far unclear how fast these instabilities would unfold if they were initiated. Here we employ the concept of similitude to estimate the characteristic time scales of several potentially MISI-prone outlet glaciers around the Antarctic coast. The proposed one-dimensional scaling approach combines observational and model data with a scaling analysis of the governing equations for fast ice flow. Evaluating outlet-characteristic ice and bed geometry, surface mass balance and basal friction in the relevant region near the grounding line, we assume that the inferred time scales correspond to the outlet-specific initial responses time to potential destabilization. Our results suggest that TG and PIG have the fastest responses time of all investigated outlets, with TG responding about 1.25 to 2 times as fast as PIG, while other outlets around Antarctica would be up to ten times slower if destabilized. These results have to be viewed in light of the strong assumptions made in their derivation. These include the absence of ice-shelf buttressing, the one-dimensionality of the approach and the uncertainty of the available data, meaning strong caveats of the approach. We argue however that the current topographic situation and the physical conditions of the MISI-prone outlet glaciers carry the information of their respective time scale and that this information can be partially extracted through a similitude analysis. The one-dimensional analysis is only a first step. Whether a two-dimensional analysis is possible is beyond the scope of this study.

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1621-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Levermann ◽  
Johannes Feldmann

Abstract. Recent observations and ice-dynamic modeling suggest that a marine ice-sheet instability (MISI) might have been triggered in West Antarctica. The corresponding outlet glaciers, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and Thwaites Glacier (TG), showed significant retreat during at least the last 2 decades. While other regions in Antarctica have the topographic predisposition for the same kind of instability, it is so far unclear how fast these instabilities would unfold if they were initiated. Here we employ the concept of similitude to estimate the characteristic timescales of several potentially MISI-prone outlet glaciers around the Antarctic coast. Our results suggest that TG and PIG have the fastest response time of all investigated outlets, with TG responding about 1.25 to 2 times as fast as PIG, while other outlets around Antarctica would be up to 10 times slower if destabilized. These results have to be viewed in light of the strong assumptions made in their derivation. These include the absence of ice-shelf buttressing, the one-dimensionality of the approach and the uncertainty of the available data. We argue however that the current topographic situation and the physical conditions of the MISI-prone outlet glaciers carry the information of their respective timescale and that this information can be partially extracted through a similitude analysis.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1699-1710 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Seroussi ◽  
M. Morlighem ◽  
E. Rignot ◽  
J. Mouginot ◽  
E. Larour ◽  
...  

Abstract. Pine Island Glacier, a major contributor to sea level rise in West Antarctica, has been undergoing significant changes over the last few decades. Here, we employ a three-dimensional, higher-order model to simulate its evolution over the next 50 yr in response to changes in its surface mass balance, the position of its calving front and ocean-induced ice shelf melting. Simulations show that the largest climatic impact on ice dynamics is the rate of ice shelf melting, which rapidly affects the glacier speed over several hundreds of kilometers upstream of the grounding line. Our simulations show that the speedup observed in the 1990s and 2000s is consistent with an increase in sub-ice-shelf melting. According to our modeling results, even if the grounding line stabilizes for a few decades, we find that the glacier reaction can continue for several decades longer. Furthermore, Pine Island Glacier will continue to change rapidly over the coming decades and remain a major contributor to sea level rise, even if ocean-induced melting is reduced.


2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Colombo ◽  
Lívia A. Alvarenga ◽  
Myriane S. Scalco ◽  
Randal C. Ribeiro ◽  
Giselle F. Abreu

The increasing demand for water resources accentuates the need to reduce water waste through a more appropriate irrigation management. In the particular case of irrigated coffee planting, which in recent years presented growth with the predominance of drip irrigation, the improvement of drip irrigation management techniques is a necessity. The proper management of drip irrigation depends on the knowledge of the spatial pattern of soil moisture distribution inside the wetted strip formed under the irrigation lines. In this study, grids of 24 tensiometers were used to determine the water storage within the wetted strip formed under drippers, with a 3.78 L h-1 discharge, evenly spaced by 0.4 m, subjected to two different management criteria (fixed irrigation interval and 60 kPa tension). Estimates of storage based on a one-dimensional analysis, that only considers depth variations, were compared with two-dimensional estimates. The results indicate that for high-frequency irrigation the one-dimensional analysis is not appropriate. However, under less frequent irrigation, the two-dimensional analysis is dispensable, being the one-dimensional sufficient for calculating the water volume stored in the wetted strip.


Water SA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3 July) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M Helmi

Floodways, where a road embankment is permitted to be overtopped by flood water, are usually designed as broad-crested weirs. Determination of the water level above the floodway is crucial and related to road safety. Hydraulic performance of floodways can be assessed numerically using 1-D modelling or 3-D simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) packages. Turbulence modelling is one of the key elements in CFD simulations. A wide variety of turbulence models are utilized in CFD packages; in order to identify the most relevant turbulence model for the case in question, 96 3-D CFD simulations were conducted using Flow-3D package, for 24 broad-crested weir configurations selected based on experimental data from a previous study. Four turbulence models (one-equation, k-ε, RNG k-ε, and k-ω) ere examined for each configuration. The volume of fluid (VOF) algorithm was adopted for free water surface determination. In addition, 24 1-D simulations using HEC-RAS-1-D were conducted for comparison with CFD results and experimental data. Validation of the simulated water free surface profiles versus the experimental measurements was carried out by the evaluation of the mean absolute error, the mean relative error percentage, and the root mean square error. It was concluded that the minimum error in simulating the full upstream to downstream free surface profile is achieved by using one-equation turbulence model with mixing length equal to 7% of the smallest domain dimension. Nevertheless, for the broad-crested weir upstream section, no significant difference in accuracy was found between all turbulence models and the one-dimensional analysis results, due to the low turbulence intensity at this part. For engineering design purposes, in which the water level is the main concern at the location of the flood way, the one-dimensional analysis has sufficient accuracy to determine the water level.


Author(s):  
Narmin B. Hushmandi ◽  
Per Askebjer ◽  
Magnus Genrup

Abstract Despite a wealth of sophisticated CFD-methods, most designs are still based on one-dimensional and two-dimensional inviscid analytical tools. In such methods, realistic loss and angle assessment are indeed critical in order to arrive at correct loading, flow coefficient and reaction. The selected values are normally retained through the detailed design sequence for each iteration. This means that the throat sizing and hence the gauge angle is largely based on the early design work within the through-flow environment. Even one-degree error in angle estimation will turn into a rather large capacity error. For most designs, the exchange rate between capacity and gauge angle is on the order of 3–5 percent, per degree exit angle. In a previous publication, a methodology and equations were presented to assess the exit flow in an axial turbine blade row by Mamaev in Russian nomenclature and the tangential coordinate system. The approach, provided a unified and flow-physics based method for assessing exit angles from the geometry features like gauge angle, uncovered turning and flow features like Laval number, etc. Analysis of those formulas showed good agreement with physical flow pattern in real cascades for sub and transonic blade cascades. In this work, the same basic principal procedure is followed by employing the more international agreed nomenclature of blades such as an axial reference plane and Mach number. In the current work, the one-dimensional analysis results were compared with the three dimensional numerical modelling of a full annulus two-stage turbine. Analysis of the results showed the inherent unsteadiness specially outside the rotor blade cascades, however, comparison of the mass averaged exit angle with the one dimensional analysis showed satisfactory agreement.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (02) ◽  
pp. 102-112
Author(s):  
Michael D. A. Mackney ◽  
Carl T. F. Ross

Computational studies of hull-superstructure interaction were carried out using one-, two-and three-dimensional finite element analyses. Simplification of the original three-dimensional cases to one- and two-dimensional ones was undertaken to reduce the data preparation and computer solution times in an extensive parametric study. Both the one- and two-dimensional models were evaluated from numerical and experimental studies of the three-dimensional arrangements of hull and superstructure. One-dimensional analysis used a simple beam finite element with appropriately changed sections properties at stations where superstructures existed. Two-dimensional analysis used a four node, first order quadrilateral, isoparametric plane elasticity finite element, with a corresponding increase in the grid domain where the superstructure existed. Changes in the thickness property reflected deck stiffness. This model was essentially a multi-flanged beam with the shear webs representing the hull and superstructure sides, and the flanges representing the decks One-dimensional models consistently and uniformly underestimated the three-dimensional behaviour, but were fast to create and run. Two-dimensional models were also consistent in their assessment, and considerably closer in predicting the actual behaviours. These models took longer to create than the one-dimensional, but ran in very much less time than the refined three-dimensional finite element models Parametric insights were accomplished quickly and effectively with the simplest model and processor, but two-dimensional analyses achieved closer absolute measure of the displacement behaviours. Although only static analysis with simple loading and support conditions were presented, it is believed that similar benefits would be found for other loadings and support conditions. Other engineering components and structures may benefit from similarly judged simplification using one- and two-dimensional models to reduce the time and cost of preliminary design.


2015 ◽  
Vol 785 ◽  
pp. 109-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Dallaston ◽  
I. J. Hewitt ◽  
A. J. Wells

We study a simplified model of ice–ocean interaction beneath a floating ice shelf, and investigate the possibility for channels to form in the ice shelf base due to spatial variations in conditions at the grounding line. The model combines an extensional thin-film description of viscous ice flow in the shelf, with melting at its base driven by a turbulent ocean plume. Small transverse perturbations to the one-dimensional steady state are considered, driven either by ice thickness or subglacial discharge variations across the grounding line. Either forcing leads to the growth of channels downstream, with melting driven by locally enhanced ocean velocities, and thus heat transfer. Narrow channels are smoothed out due to turbulent mixing in the ocean plume, leading to a preferred wavelength for channel growth. In the absence of perturbations at the grounding line, linear stability analysis suggests that the one-dimensional state is stable to initial perturbations, chiefly due to the background ice advection.


1976 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Dua ◽  
C. L. Tien

This paper presents a two-dimensional analysis of the effect of precursory cooling on conduction-controlled rewetting of a vertical surface, whose initial temperature is higher than the sputtering temperature. Precursory cooling refers to the cooling caused by the droplet-vapor mixture in the region immediately ahead of the wet front, and is described mathematically by two dimensionless constants which characterize its magnitude and the region of influence. The physical model developed to account for precursory cooling consists of an infinitely extended vertical surface with the dry region ahead of the wet front characterized by an exponentially decaying heat flux and the wet region behind the moving film-front associated with a constant heat transfer coefficient. Apart from the two dimensionless constants describing the extent of precursory cooling, the physical problem is characterized by three dimensionless groups: the Peclet number or the dimensionless wetting velocity, the Biot number and a dimensionless temperature. Limiting solutions for large and small Peclet numbers have been obtained utilizing the Wiener-Hopf technique coupled with appropriate kernel substitutions. A semiempirical matching relation is then devised for the entire range of Peclet numbers. Existing experimental data with variable flow rates at atmospheric pressure are very closely correlated by the present model. Finally a comparison is drawn between the one-dimensional limit of the present analysis and the corresponding one-dimensional solution obtained by treating the dry region ahead of the wet front characterized by an exponentially decaying heat transfer coefficient.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S294) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. S. Savanov

AbstractI review the currently available techniques for the starspots detection including the one-dimensional spot modelling of photometric light curves. Special attention will be paid to the modelling of photospheric activity based on the high-precision light curves obtained with space missions MOST, CoRoT, and Kepler. Physical spot parameters (temperature, sizes and variability time scales including short-term activity cycles) are discussed.


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