scholarly journals New velocity map and mass-balance estimate of Mertz Glacier, East Antarctica, derived from Landsat sequential imagery

2003 ◽  
Vol 49 (167) ◽  
pp. 503-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Berthier ◽  
Bruce Raup ◽  
Ted Scambos

AbstractAutomatic feature tracking on two Landsat images (acquired inJanuary 2000 and December 2001) generates a complete and accurate velocity field of Mertz Glacier, East Antarctica. This velocity field shows two main tributaries to the ice stream. Between the tributaries, a likely obstruction feature in the bedrock results in a slow-down of the flow. A third Landsat image, acquired in 1989 and combined with the 2000 image, permits the determination of the glacier mean velocity during the 1990s. Although some parts of the Mertz Glacier system show evidence of slight speed increase, we conclude that the Mertz flow speed is constant within our uncertainty (35 m a−1). Using this complete velocity field, new estimates of the ice discharge flux, 17.8 km3 a−1 (16.4 Gt a−1), and of the basal melting of the tongue, 11 m a−1 of ice, are given. Our results lead to an apparent imbalance of the drainage basin (ice discharge 3.5 km3 a−1 lower than the accumulation). Considering previous studies in the Mertz Glacier area, we then discuss the uncertainty of this imbalance and the problems with accumulation mapping for this region.

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1001-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Fořt ◽  
Vladimír Rogalewicz ◽  
Miroslav Richter

The study describes simulation of the motion of bubbles in gas, dispersed by a mechanical impeller in a turbulent low-viscosity liquid flow. The model employs the Monte Carlo method and it is based both on the knowledge of the mean velocity field of mixed liquid (mean motion) and of the spatial distribution of turbulence intensity ( fluctuating motion) in the investigated system - a cylindrical tank with radial baffles at the wall and with a standard (Rushton) turbine impeller in the vessel axis. Motion of the liquid is then superimposed with that of the bubbles in a still environment (ascending motion). The computation of the simulation includes determination of the spatial distribution of the gas holds-up (volumetric concentrations) in the agitated charge as well as of the total gas hold-up system depending on the impeller size and its frequency of revolutions, on the volumetric gas flow rate and the physical properties of gas and liquid. As model parameters, both liquid velocity field and normal gas bubbles distribution characteristics are considered, assuming that the bubbles in the system do not coalesce.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiro Minowa ◽  
Shin Sugiyama ◽  
Masato Ito ◽  
Shiori Yamane ◽  
Shigeru Aoki

AbstractBasal melting of ice shelves is considered to be the principal driver of recent ice mass loss in Antarctica. Nevertheless, in-situ oceanic data covering the extensive areas of a subshelf cavity are sparse. Here we show comprehensive structures of temperature, salinity and current measured in January 2018 through four boreholes drilled at a ~3-km-long ice shelf of Langhovde Glacier in East Antarctica. The measurements were performed in 302–12 m-thick ocean cavity beneath 234–412 m-thick ice shelf. The data indicate that Modified Warm Deep Water is transported into the grounding zone beneath a stratified buoyant plume. Water at the ice-ocean interface was warmer than the in-situ freezing point by 0.65–0.95°C, leading to a mean basal melt rate estimate of 1.42 m a−1. Our measurements indicate the existence of a density-driven water circulation in the cavity beneath the ice shelf of Langhovde Glacier, similar to that proposed for warm-ocean cavities of larger Antarctic ice shelves.


2018 ◽  
Vol 857 ◽  
pp. 345-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Gatti ◽  
Andrea Cimarelli ◽  
Yosuke Hasegawa ◽  
Bettina Frohnapfel ◽  
Maurizio Quadrio

This paper addresses the integral energy fluxes in natural and controlled turbulent channel flows, where active skin-friction drag reduction techniques allow a more efficient use of the available power. We study whether the increased efficiency shows any general trend in how energy is dissipated by the mean velocity field (mean dissipation) and by the fluctuating velocity field (turbulent dissipation). Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of different control strategies are performed at constant power input (CPI), so that at statistical equilibrium, each flow (either uncontrolled or controlled by different means) has the same power input, hence the same global energy flux and, by definition, the same total energy dissipation rate. The simulations reveal that changes in mean and turbulent energy dissipation rates can be of either sign in a successfully controlled flow. A quantitative description of these changes is made possible by a new decomposition of the total dissipation, stemming from an extended Reynolds decomposition, where the mean velocity is split into a laminar component and a deviation from it. Thanks to the analytical expressions of the laminar quantities, exact relationships are derived that link the achieved flow rate increase and all energy fluxes in the flow system with two wall-normal integrals of the Reynolds shear stress and the Reynolds number. The dependence of the energy fluxes on the Reynolds number is elucidated with a simple model in which the control-dependent changes of the Reynolds shear stress are accounted for via a modification of the mean velocity profile. The physical meaning of the energy fluxes stemming from the new decomposition unveils their inter-relations and connection to flow control, so that a clear target for flow control can be identified.


Author(s):  
Bohua Sun

Based on author's previous work [Sun, B. The Reynolds Navier-Stokes Turbulence Equations of Incompressible Flow Are Closed Rather Than Unclosed. Preprints 2018, 2018060461 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201806.0461.v1)], this paper proposed an explicit representation of velocity fluctuation and formulated the Reynolds stress tensor in terms of the mean velocity field. The proposed closed Reynolds Navier-Stokes turbulence formulations reveal that the mean vorticity is the key source of producing turbulence.


1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (73) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. I. Morgan ◽  
W. F. Budd

AbstractSeveral seasons of aerial ice-thickness soundings over the region of the Prince Charles Mountains, the Lambert Glacier system, the Amery Ice Shelf, and their drainage basin in east Antarctica have now been completed. The measurements provide detailed maps of surface topography and ice thickness over an area of about 2 X 105 km2. The equipment used consisted of a 100 MHz echo sounder designed and constructed by Antarctic Division and carried in a Pilatus Porter aircraft. ERTS imagery provides a valuable background for portraying the echo-sounding results. These results show that an extensive, deep subglacial valley system forms the basis of the large drainage basin with concave ice surface topography which channels the ice flow into the Amery Ice Shelf. Deep glacial streams penetrate a long way into the ice-sheet basin. The rock relief is considerable, varying from 3 000 m above (present) sea-level to 2 000 m below sea-level. A very deep subglacial trench exists in the region of the confluence of the Fisher, Mellor, and Lambert Glaciers where the ice thickness reaches 2 500 m. The low surface slope and high ice velocity are suggestive of high melt production in this region. The strong echo, together with the high bedrock back-slope, suggests that the deep trench may contain a basal melt lake.


AIChE Journal ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl M. Stoots ◽  
Richard V. Calabrese

Author(s):  
Mike Siekman ◽  
David Helmer ◽  
Wontae Hwang ◽  
Gregory Laskowski ◽  
Ek Tsoon Tan ◽  
...  

RANS and time averaged URANS simulations of a pin bank are compared quantitatively and qualitatively to full 3D mean velocity field data obtained using magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV). The ability of the CFD to match MRV velocity profiles through the pin bank is evaluated using the SST turbulence model. Quantitative comparisons of the velocity profiles showed an overprediction of peak velocity by the CFD at the first pin rows, and a smaller oscillatory error that diminishes as it moves through the pins, resulting in better matching towards the exit.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Beedle ◽  
M. Dyurgerov ◽  
W. Tangborn ◽  
S. J. S. Khalsa ◽  
C. Helm ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) project has developed tools and methods that can be employed by analysts to create accurate glacier outlines. To illustrate the importance of accurate glacier outlines and the effectiveness of GLIMS standards we conducted a case study on Bering Glacier System (BGS), Alaska. BGS is a complex glacier system aggregated from multiple drainage basins, numerous tributaries, and many accumulation areas. Published measurements of BGS surface area vary from 1740 to 6200 km2, depending on how the boundaries of this system have been defined. Utilizing GLIMS tools and standards we have completed a new outline (3630 km2) and analysis of the area-altitude distribution (hypsometry) of BGS using Landsat images from 2000 and 2001 and a US Geological Survey 15-min digital elevation model. We compared this new hypsometry with three different hypsometries to illustrate the errors that result from the widely varying estimates of BGS extent. The use of different BGS hypsometries results in highly variable measures of volume change and net balance (bn). Applying a simple hypsometry-dependent mass-balance model to different hypsometries results in a bn rate range of −1.0 to −3.1 m a−1 water equivalent (W.E.), a volume change range of −3.8 to −6.7 km3 a−1 W.E., and a near doubling in contributions to sea level equivalent, 0.011 mm a−1 to 0.019 mm a−1. Current inaccuracies in glacier outlines hinder our ability to correctly quantify glacier change. Understanding of glacier extents can become comprehensive and accurate. Such accuracy is possible with the increasing volume of satellite imagery of glacierized regions, recent advances in tools and standards, and dedication to this important task.


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