News and Events
ISSM Codebase is Migrating from SVN to GitHub  more >>
The ISSM team is deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our dear colleague, Dr. Chris Borstad.  more >>
New study shows that longer melt seasons have a larger impact on velocities than more intense melt seasons.  more >>
New paper on the reduction of uncertainty in ice-sheet model projections of Thwaites Glacier  more >>
A Gaussian Markov random field sampler for forward uncertainty quantification has been implemented in the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model v4.19  more >>

Welcome

to the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) website (formerly, Ice Sheet System Model). ISSM is the result of a collaboration between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dartmouth College, and University of California at Irvine. Its purpose is to tackle the challenge of modeling the evolution of the polar ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica.

ISSM is open source and is funded by the NASA Cryosphere, IceBridge Research and MAP (Modeling Analysis and Prediction) programs, JPL R&TD (Research, Technology and Development) and the National Science Foundation.

Large scale ice flow models are necessary that can accurately model the evolution of Greenland and Antarctica in a warming climate. In order to achieve this goal, and improve projections of future sea level rise, ISSM relies on state of the art technologies. These include:

  • Finite Element Modeling, which allows for the use of unstructured meshes to reach high resolutions in areas where ice flow dynamics is critical.
  • Higher-order ice dynamics: instead of relying on the Shallow Ice Approximation (SIA), ISSM includes a suite of model of increasing complexity, including Full-Stokes.
  • Parallel technologies, using state of the art clusters such as the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Pleiades cluster. This allows ISSM to run bigger models, with a faster turn around.
  • Anisotropic mesh refinement, which allows ISSM to zoom in on areas of interest, while saving computational resources by using coarse meshes where ice flow is stagnant.
  • Data assimilation using inverse methods to infer unknown parameters from observations, using either variational data assimilation or using automatic differentiation.
  • Sensitivity analysis tools, based on the Dakota toolkit from Sandia National Laboratories. This suite of tools allows ISSM to constrain projections of future sea level rise, and to assess the reliability of such projections.

Capability Support

CapabilitySupportContacts
MATLAB InterfaceISSM team
Python InterfaceQuinn
Mesh generationMorlighem
Stress balanceISSM team
ThermalSeroussi, Morlighem
Transient ISSM team
Grounding line (hydrostatic)ISSM team
Mass transport ISSM team
Static inversions (friction, B)ISSM team
UQ (dakota)Schlegel
Balance velocitiesMorlighem
CalvingMorlighem
DamageLarour
MITgcm coupling Seroussi
Automatic DifferentiationMorlighem
Hydrology GlaDSEhrenfeucht
Hydrology SHAKTISommers
Stochastic forcingsVerjans
Grounding line (FS, contact) Seroussi
Mass conservationMorlighem
Adaptive Mesh Refinementdos Santos
RiftsLarour
GIACaron
Crustal displacementAdhikari, Caron
Sea levelLarour, Adhikari, Caron
Legend:
Production (fully Supported)
Development (not fully supported)
Experimental (not supported)

Note:
If you wish to use or are proposing to use Development or Experimental features, please contact the corresponding contact.