Stefano Ottolenghi: Towards tackling ice sheet/ocean interactions using the Finite Element Method

Abstract

To predict future ice-sheet melting and ocean circulation it is important to understand the way in which ice sheets and ocean interact with each other. The implementations of coupled ice/ocean models that are available up to date are suboptimal, with input/output data being sent back and forth between separate codes. The long-term goal of this PhD project is to instead fully couple ice and ocean in one single numerical framework.

In this talk I will go through the mathematics and geophysics involved in the numerical ocean model of the project. Specifically, we will first have a look at the Navier-Stokes equations which govern the fluid dynamics, then explore the numerical methods (finite elements) used to solve these partial differential equations and briefly discuss challenges that can arise. Finally, I will present some example setups of modeled circulations obtained by implementing the model in the FEniCS computing platform.