[MITgcm-devel] heff_max...more sea ice issues

Martin Losch Martin.Losch at awi.de
Mon Dec 18 15:25:15 EST 2006


Hi Matt,

are you using the original B-grid dynamics code? If so, do you have  
some sort ice-ocean stress turned on? Apparently ice-ocean stress can  
be a problem with the B-grid model. If it is not too much effort, try  
to run with the C-grid dynamics (#define SEAICE_USE_CGRID or so) and  
see what happens. With the C-grid the ice-ocean coupling seems to be  
less of a problem (at least thats's what Dimitris sees in his runs).

Martin

On 18 Dec 2006, at 20:57, Matthew Mazloff wrote:

> Hi Jinlun,
>
> I am not 100% sure what is happening.  The info I have comes from  
> the monitor output.
>
> with:     SEAICEuseDYNAMICS = .TRUE. the model crashes after 6  
> months.  Heff_max is not a smooth function but jumps quite a bit  
> with time
> with:       SEAICEuseDYNAMICS = .FALSE. the model runs successfully  
> for one year.  Heff_max is smooth in time and the values are at the  
> low side of the oscillations I see with the dynamics on: I've  
> attached a picture below
>
> The advcfl_W_hf_max is similar in both models...perhaps it is the  
> seaice model that is crashing.  Without ice dynamics, however, the  
> ocean velocity fields have larger maxima.  But the cfl numbs  
> associated with these maxima are still OK.
>
> So maybe it is the ice model that is unstable.  I do not know what  
> stability criteria I should consider with the ice model.  My setup:  
> 1/6 degree resolution, 900 second timesteps, using C-grid ice model  
> configuration, LSR_ERROR = 1e-3.
>
> I know this really isn't too much info....sorry about that.  Any  
> ideas?
>
> Thanks for the help,
> Matt
> <heff_max.jpg>
>
>
> On Dec 18, 2006, at 1:53 PM, Jinlun Zhang wrote:
>
>> Hi Matt,
>>
>> When the model crashes, is it the ice that crashes, or the ocean  
>> crashes? Generally, thick ice won't cause crashes (or make the  
>> ocean more stable) because it moves slower and it does not create  
>> big buoyancy change. So change heff_max generally won't help much  
>> if the model would eventually blow up. And it is not a good idea  
>> to set heff_max low because if would create lots of side effect  
>> (buoyancy). One sensitivity study is to turn off ice dynamics and  
>> run the model for sufficiently long to see what happens. Another  
>> thing is to make sure the calculation of  ocean surface stress is  
>> robust?
>>
>> Jinlun
>>
>> Matthew Mazloff wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> My upper layer is 10m thick.  When heff_max > 5m the model  
>>> crashes.   (This only happens with dynamics on (LSR_ERROR = 1e-3  
>>> in my  calculations so not very accurate).  With dynamics off the  
>>> ice never  reaches this thickness.)  I am modeling the Southern  
>>> Ocean, I am sure  Arctic modelers must have this problem to an  
>>> even greater degree.   What is other people's experiences with  
>>> thick ice and stability?   Should an effective thickness capping  
>>> be implemented?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> -Matt
>>>
>>>
>>> fyi:  I tried the free drift sea ice hack (i.e. setting uc ~ uvel  
>>> in  seaice_advdiff.F) and the model crashed.  The results were   
>>> odd....lots of numerical noise in AREA and, it appeared, no   
>>> significant advection.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Dec 6, 2006, at 3:45 PM, Martin Losch wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Jinlun,
>>>>
>>>> in the end, we want to be able to use a flux-limited 3rd order   
>>>> advection scheme, it's just not yet possible.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately my model stops at 80degN. I really need to set up  
>>>> a  truly global ocean model. I do assume though, that there is   
>>>> something fishy with the precipitation in the CORE data set.  
>>>> Would  be interesting to see if some-one else has a similar  
>>>> experience.
>>>>
>>>> In general, though, the ice extend is too large in winter (in   
>>>> particular in the Drake Passage, isn't it?). That 's the only  
>>>> thing  that's still worrying me.
>>>>
>>>> XKI: I am only playing with this parameter to find out how the  
>>>> model (s) behave(s). In practice I will always use something  
>>>> around 2.  XKI only appears in the denominator in budget.F, so I  
>>>> don't quite  see what it does. I guess I have to dig up  
>>>> Hibler79/80 and have a  look at the thermodynamics, right?
>>>>
>>>> M.
>>>>
>>>> On 6 Dec 2006, at 18:34, Jinlun Zhang wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Martin Losch wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Jinlun,
>>>>>> thanks for you input. I really enjoy this discussion!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For clarification: I use the same advection for HEFF, HSNOW,  
>>>>>> and   AREA. That is run47 has 1st order upwind for all three   
>>>>>> variables,  while run41 has 2nd order central differences  
>>>>>> scheme  (and not  flooding algorithm). All runs use a little  
>>>>>> bit of  diffusion (the  default values of DIFF1=0.004), which  
>>>>>> is probably  not good for run47.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Martin,
>>>>>
>>>>> Good the ice and snow advection is consistent. When you use  
>>>>> 1st  order upwind, perhaps you do not have to use any diffusion  
>>>>> (if you  have used any) since it is quite diffusive.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> run48 uses only 10% of the snow precipitation, but uses  
>>>>>> flooding   (it's just like 45). Are you saying that this  
>>>>>> should not reduce  the  ice amount? One source of the ice is  
>>>>>> flooded snow in the  flooding  algorithm in the current  
>>>>>> version of growth.F (http:// dev.mitgcm.org/ cgi-bin/ 
>>>>>> viewcvs.cgi/MITgcm/pkg/seaice/growth.F?   
>>>>>> rev=1.34&only_with_tag=MAIN&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-  
>>>>>> markup).  One of my problems was, that the huge amounts of  
>>>>>> snow  that you see in  run40 (160m in some places, no  
>>>>>> flooding, no  advection) are turned  into ice by flooding and  
>>>>>> lead to ice  thicknesses beyond my  expectation. Either there  
>>>>>> is too much snow  to begin with, or  something is wrong in the  
>>>>>> handling of snow and  not enough snow is  melted.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I was looking at wrong figure and had mistakenly thought that  
>>>>> when  you reduced snow, ice was pretty much gone. But actually  
>>>>> ice was  only slight reduced with run48, not really bad. Sorry  
>>>>> for the  mistake.
>>>>> I don't know what is wrong with run40, but I wonder if this  
>>>>> huge  snow depth also occurs in the Arctic. If that is the case  
>>>>> in  Arctic also, then definitely something is really wrong with  
>>>>> the  model.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1D tests: As far as I understand the physics of ice  
>>>>>> formation:  Ice  forms because the atmospheric heat flux cools  
>>>>>> the ocean  surface below  freezing. Ice continues to grow as  
>>>>>> long a the  atmospheric surface  flux continues to cool the  
>>>>>> ocean. In the  presence of ice this  atmospheric heat is  
>>>>>> "diffused" (conducted)  through the ice according  to the net  
>>>>>> conductivity. In the  absense of snow this conductivity   
>>>>>> should be SEAICE_iceConduct  (XKI in budget.F). If the ocean  
>>>>>> provides  heat from below by  upward transport of warmer  
>>>>>> waters (by vertical  convection), then  this heat flux can  
>>>>>> balance the atmospheric heat  flux and stop  the ice from  
>>>>>> growing. When you equate these fluxes  roughly at   
>>>>>> equilibrium: Qocean = conductivity*(Tair-Tsurfocean)/hice   
>>>>>> you  get the ice thickness that follows form this balance hice  
>>>>>> =   conductivity*(Tair-Tsurfocean)/Qocean.
>>>>>> Hypothetically I should be able to modify this "equilibrium    
>>>>>> thickness" by playing with the conductivity (or Qocean or  
>>>>>> the   temperature difference). However I find that the model  
>>>>>> parameter   XKI=SEAICE_iceConduct has no impact on hice (I use  
>>>>>> 1e-6 instead  of  2!). That's puzzling, isn't? For the thsice  
>>>>>> package, the   corresponding parameter does have an impact.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Your reasoning sounds ok. But I am not sure why ice is so   
>>>>> insensitive to XKI in equilibrium. It does not make sense.  
>>>>> Note  that XKI is a physical term that is likely determined by  
>>>>> lad  experiments. Better not use a different number. Would be   
>>>>> interesting to see how sensitive ice thickness/extent is to XKI  
>>>>> in  real simulations.
>>>>> Jinlun
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Martin
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 5 Dec 2006, at 18:17, Jinlun Zhang wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Martin Losch wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jinlun,
>>>>>>>> thanks for your opinion. The thsice thermodynamics are   
>>>>>>>> basically   Winton's (2000) model, but we have not yet  
>>>>>>>> fully  sorted out the   advection part.
>>>>>>>> I have now a run47 with SEAICEadvScheme = 1 (1st order  
>>>>>>>> upwind,   too  smooth) and no flooding, and and another one  
>>>>>>>> (run48) which  is  just  like run45 but with only a 1/10th  
>>>>>>>> of the snow fall,  just to  see what  happens, see
>>>>>>>> http://mitgcm.org/~mlosch/run47.png
>>>>>>>> http://mitgcm.org/~mlosch/run48.png
>>>>>>>> As expected is run47 closest to what we expect. But run48  
>>>>>>>> is  not  too  bad either, too little snow (of course) and as  
>>>>>>>> a  consequence  too  little ice. So either there is too much  
>>>>>>>> snow/ precip in the   atmospheric forcing, or there is  
>>>>>>>> something not  kosher in the snow   parameterizations. As  
>>>>>>>> the problems are  similar with thsice I  would  agree that  
>>>>>>>> the forcing may be the  problem ... I have to try  and find   
>>>>>>>> different precipitation  fields.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Marin,
>>>>>>> Yeah run47.png looks pretty good. The advection works ok. But  
>>>>>>> I   wonder what ice advction you are using, 2nd order or 1st  
>>>>>>> order?  The  one I installed is 2nd order. Ideally, the snow  
>>>>>>> advection  should be  exactly the same as the ice advection  
>>>>>>> so ice and snow  won't devorce  with each other.
>>>>>>> It is not right with run48 that when the snow is turned off,  
>>>>>>> ice  is  gone. Some thing is wrong here.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I have also made another observation: I tried to run the    
>>>>>>>> different  thermodynamics without any dynamics in a 1D case.  
>>>>>>>> I   expect (and JMC  agrees with me) that for constant air   
>>>>>>>> temperature  (say -30degC), ice  thickness should grow  
>>>>>>>> until  there is some  equilibrium thickness, when  the  
>>>>>>>> remaining heat  flux out of the  ocean is balanced by the  
>>>>>>>> diffusive  flux of  heat through the ice.  I assume that the  
>>>>>>>> diffusion is   controlled by "SEAICE_iceConduct"  for seaice  
>>>>>>>> and kice for  thsice. The  equilibrium thickness can   
>>>>>>>> roughly be estimated by  hequil =  conductivity*(Tair- 
>>>>>>>> Twater)/ heatflux.
>>>>>>>> I have only succeded yet in reaching some equilibrium   
>>>>>>>> thickness  with  thsice (with an unrealistic value of  
>>>>>>>> kice=1e-6  instead of  2). For  growth, this only works if I  
>>>>>>>> turn on some  precipitation  (snow).  Without snow HEFF is  
>>>>>>>> completely  independent of  SEAICE_iceConduct,  which I  
>>>>>>>> don't think is right.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I don't understand this equil. ice thickness )-:. As said   
>>>>>>> above,  without snow-without ice thing or ice not working  
>>>>>>> right  without  snow does not make sense to me.You might want  
>>>>>>> to check  with  Thorndike (199?) for a toy model of equil.  
>>>>>>> ice thickness.
>>>>>>> Jinlun
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> M.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 5 Dec 2006, at 03:39, Jinlun Zhang wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Martin,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I would vote run45.png for best performance except that  
>>>>>>>>> the   summer  ice is slightly overestimated. I would not  
>>>>>>>>> vote  run41.png  because  of its weird snow distribution.  
>>>>>>>>> The snow  pattern should  generally  follow the ice pattern  
>>>>>>>>> (could mean  a problem with ice  advection). I  don't know  
>>>>>>>>> why the snow  gets so thick with  run40.png, the precip   
>>>>>>>>> forcing could be  way off. But obviously  snow advection  
>>>>>>>>> helps a lot.  Snow  flooding, if it overestimates  ice,  
>>>>>>>>> then turn it off, not big   deal (since what we do is to  
>>>>>>>>> make  the fields look like   observations). As for thsice,  
>>>>>>>>> I don't know  what is going on.  But  for any ice  
>>>>>>>>> thermodynamics that involves  ice salinity  (if thsice   
>>>>>>>>> uses ice salinity), there might be a  singularity  in the  
>>>>>>>>> formulation  (I had such feeling before, but I  could  be  
>>>>>>>>> wrong).
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Jinlun
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> MITgcm-devel mailing list
>>>>>> MITgcm-devel at mitgcm.org
>>>>>> http://mitgcm.org/mailman/listinfo/mitgcm-devel
>>>>>
>>>
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Jinlun Zhang
>> Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory
>> University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th St, Seattle, WA 98105-6698
>>
>> Phone: (206)-543-5569;  Fax: (206)-616-3142
>> zhang at apl.washington.edu
>> http://psc.apl.washington.edu/pscweb2002/Staff/zhang/zhang.html
>>
>>
>>
>>
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