Firn Transient

A 1D transient firn compaction model with nondimensional scaling, implemented in main.py.

Quick Start

Clone the repository and enter it:

git clone https://github.com/ldeo-glaciology/firn_transient
cd firn_transient

Using uv:

uv sync

If you do not have uv, use pip:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install .

In a notebook cell (for example from notebooks/), run:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, "..")

from main import FirnModel

sim = FirnModel()
sim.setup()
out = sim.run()
out

To change parameters, pass keyword arguments to setup(...):

sim = FirnModel()
sim.setup(
    b0_mpy=0.2,          # dimensional accumulation rate
    beta=1.3,            # nondimensional accumulation-rate parameter
    T_s_dim=258.15,      # surface temperature [K]
    z0=120,              # initial column height [m]
    dz=0.01,             # nondimensional grid spacing factor
    simDuration=6,       # nondimensional simulation duration
    interp_on_reg_z=True,
    print_messages=False,
)
out = sim.run()
out

Run Tests

Using uv:

uv sync --extra test
.venv/bin/pytest -v

Using pip:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install ".[test]"
pytest -v

Notebook

Exploratory notebook for transient response to accumulation-rate changes:

• notebooks/transient_accumulation_xarray_sweep.ipynb

This notebook was created by Codex for exploratory purposes.

Reference

The model is based on:

Kingslake, J., Skarbek, R., Case, E., and McCarthy, C. (2022). Grain-size evolution controls the accumulation dependence of modelled firn thickness. The Cryosphere, 16, 3413-3430. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3413-2022

CI

GitHub Actions workflow runs tests:

• .github/workflows/tests.yml