TC The Cryosphere TC 1994-0424 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/tc-2-95-2008 Benchmark experiments for higher-order and full-Stokes ice sheet models (ISMIP–HOM) Pattyn F. 1 Perichon L. 1 Aschwanden A. 2 Breuer B. 3 de Smedt B. 4 Gagliardini O. 5 Gudmundsson G. H. 6 Hindmarsh R. C. A. 6 Hubbard A. 7 Johnson J. V. 8 Kleiner T. 3 Konovalov Y. 9 Martin C. 6 Payne A. J. 10 Pollard D. 11 Price S. 10 Rückamp M. 3 Saito F. 12 Souček O. 13 Sugiyama S. 14 Zwinger T. 15 Laboratoire de Glaciologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP160/03, Av. F. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland Institute for Geophysics, University of Muenster, Corrensstrasse 24, 48149 Muenster, Germany Vakgroep Geografie, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Laboratoire de Glaciologie et de Géophysique de l'Environnement (LGGE), CNRS, UJF-Grenoble I, BP 96, 38402 Saint Martin d'Hères Cedex, France Physical Science Division, British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK Centre for Glaciology, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Ceredigion, SY23 3DP, UK Department of Computer Science, Social Science Building Room 417, Univ. of Montana, Missoula MT, 59812-5256, USA Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Moscow, Russia Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University Road, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, 2217 Earth-Engineering Sciences Bldg., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Frontier Res. Center for Global Change, 3173-25 Showamachi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa 236-0001, Japan Department of Geophysics, Charles University Prague, V. Holešovičkách 2, 18000 Praha 8, Czech Republic Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Nishi-8, Kita-19, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan CSC-Scientific Computing Ltd., Keilaranta 14, P.O. Box 405, 02101 Espoo, Finland 26 08 2008 2 2 95 108 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.the-cryosphere.net/2/95/2008/tc-2-95-2008.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.the-cryosphere.net/2/95/2008/tc-2-95-2008.pdf

We present the results of the first ice sheet model intercomparison project for higher-order and full-Stokes ice sheet models. These models are compared and verified in a series of six experiments of which one has an analytical solution obtained from a perturbation analysis. The experiments are applied to both 2-D and 3-D geometries; five experiments are steady-state diagnostic, and one has a time-dependent prognostic solution. All participating models give results that are in close agreement. A clear distinction can be made between higher-order models and those that solve the full system of equations. The full-Stokes models show a much smaller spread, hence are in better agreement with one another and with the analytical solution.

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