Anisotropic metric-based mesh adaptation  for ice flow modelling in Firedrake

Dundovic, Davor; Wallwork, Joseph G.; Kramer, Stephan C.; Gillet-Chaulet, Fabien; Hock, Regine; Piggott, Matthew D.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4023-2025

Articles | Volume 18, issue 13

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4023-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

The Firedrake automatic code generation system

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4023-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 13

Development and technical paper

|

02 Jul 2025

Development and technical paper |

| 02 Jul 2025

Anisotropic metric-based mesh adaptation for ice flow modelling in Firedrake

Davor Dundovic, Joseph G. Wallwork, Stephan C. Kramer, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Regine Hock, and Matthew D. Piggott

Data sets

Scientific colour maps F. Crameri https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8409685

Model code and software

ddundo/mismip-adapt-paper: Code for Anisotropic metric-based mesh adaptation for ice flow modelling in Firedrake paper Davor Dundovic https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14913405

Animate Joseph G. Wallwork et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11537707

Goalie Joseph G. Wallwork et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13353191

Short summary

Accurate numerical studies of glaciers often require high-resolution simulations, which often prove too demanding even for modern computers. In this paper we develop a method that identifies whether different parts of a glacier require high or low resolution based on its physical features, such as its thickness and velocity. We show that by doing so we can achieve a more optimal simulation accuracy for the available computing resources compared to uniform-resolution simulations.