DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14920734
title: Calibration of the Arctic Coastal Erosion (ACE) Model at Drew Point, AK: Terrestrial model inputs, simulation output, and analysis scripts/tools

description: This repository contains data related to the Arctic Coastal Erosion (ACE) model calibration at Drew Point, using observational data from a field study conducted in summer 2018. In particular, it focuses on parameter studies and calibration for three key ACE model parameters: the minimum elastic modulus (general) denoted Em, the minimum allowable elastic modulus (when ocean-contacted) denoted Emo, and the tensile yield strength denoted sigma_tol. 

Note: In the file directory naming, the following terms are used: 



"Eres" -- this refers to the minimum allowable elastic modulus "Em", which was originally named a "residual elastic modulus"

"Eweak" -- this refers to the fractional relationship between the two elastic moduli, "Em/Emo", which was originally named the "Elastic modulus weakening factor"


 

Note: There is a companion repository which hosts the observational data set used for calibration, which can be found at https://zenodo.org/records/14862274. 

There is a combination of (a) direct model output data,  (b) post-processed data derived from model output, and (c) scripts used to plot the post-processed data. 

The contents are as follows. 



Data related to the final calibrated case (in 'calibrated_case'): This directory contains data related to the final calibrated case with parameter values Em=1.1e+04 (minimum elastic modulus, general), Emo=220.0 (minimum elastic modulus, ocean-contacted), and sigma_tol=1.4e+05 (tensile yield strength). It contains the following:



Direct model output: This can be found in the directories 'output_every_10th_tstep' and 'output_every_50th_tstep', and are in exodus file format. To visualize this data, Paraview (https://www.paraview.org/download/) is reccomended. Because the ACE model outputs data in exodus format, providing the output data at every timestep would result in very large file sizes. Instead, the provided output files are sampled at every 10th and 50th timestep and provide these outputs instead. 

Input files needed to run the case with Albany: This can be found in 'input_decks_grid_external_files'. Albany utilizes a .yaml file system for model input decks. With a build of Albany-LCM, the case can be rerun from within this directory by running "(ALBANY_EXECUTABLE) coupled.yaml". This directory contains all the bounday condition, sediment fraction, porosity, salinity, and mesh grid files used by the simulation.

Paraview states to visualize the direct model output ( in 'paraview_states'): These paraview state files can be used to visualize the direct model output, and to re-generate some of the figures/analysis performed for publication.



The state file 'view_temperature_ice-saturation_strain-tensile-indicators.pvsm' will reproduce the visualizations of temperature, ice saturation, and strain + tensile failure indicators, where the failure indicators proximity to 1 shows how close a given element is to being removed by that erosion criterion. 

The state file 'temperature_ice-sat_thermal-diffusivity_lineplots.pvsm' will show lineplots for temperature, ice saturation, and thermal diffusivity at different locations in the simulation domain. Data from the vertical lineplots at x = -3.5 m and x = -6.55 m can be used to plot the thermal evolution of both ice-bonded sediment and ice wedge, and compare against observation probes.

To view the model output using these Paraview states, open Paraview, select File-> Load State, and select the state file you wish to view. Select the option 'Choose filenames', and then choose all '.e-s.*' files in either of the provided output directories (output_every_10th_tstep or output_every_50th_tstep).

Note: The provided Paraview state files were created using Paraview Version 5.9.1. Loading the state files with this version of Paraview is the most likely to have success. 



Lineplot files for the thermal evolution of both ice-bonded sediment and ice wedge throughout the coarse of the simulation. 



 Each lineplot .csv file contains the temperature with elevation data for a given instance in time. The times start on July 1 and are sampled daily through August 2018.

These data files were generated using the paraview state 'temperature_ice-sat_thermal-diffusivity_lineplots.pvsm' described above.  





Bluff erosion data for parameter studies conducted in the ACE model calibration on minimum allowable elastic moduli and tensile yield. This data is post-processed from model output, and contains the farmost bluff x-location with time for the elevations z = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 m. This is provided for 3 main parameter studies: 



 'sweep_Em_Emo_sigma_tol_deactivated': The initial exploratory sweep on minimum elastic moduli Em and Emo, with tensile yield deactivated by setting it to an artificially high value. This enabled a study on the interaction between Em and Emo. During this phase, a finalized Em was selected, and an appropriate range for further consideration was indentified for Emo. 

'sweep_Emo_sigma_tol_Em_calibrated': This paramter study was conducted holding Em constant at 1.1e+04 Pa, and varying the ocean-contact minimum allowable elastic modulus Emo and the tensile yield sigma_tol. During this phase, a calibrated combination of tensile yield and Emo was selected.

'sweep_Em_Emo_sigma_tol_calibrated': This final study was performed holding sigma_tol constant at 1.4e+05 Pa, while varying Em and Emo. The combination of this study and that in (2.2) allow for a full visualization and understanding of how model behavior varies with the three calibration parameters.

Note: For each of these studies, the mesh integration point failure count by erosion criterion is also provided. This data is post-processed, as it must be extracted from the Albany simulation logfile.



Plotting scripts (in 'scripts'): This directory houses two plotting scripts used to reproduce figures shown in the publication:



plot-bluff-location-data-against-camera-data.py: This python script plots the amount of bluff erosion vs time for the elevations z = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 m. The plotting is done using the data in (2). This script has 4 configurations that can be plotted:             - 'Option 0': The calibrated case alone. To plot this, uncomment lines 101-110.             - 'Option 1': The paramter study from (2.3), using data from 'sweep_Em_Emo_sigma_tol_calibrated'. To plot this, uncomment lines 117-150 and comment out other options.             - 'Option 2': The paramter study from (2.2), using data from 'sweep_Emo_sigma_tol_Em_calibrated'. To plot this, uncomment lines 156-183 and comment out other options.             - 'Option 3': The paramter study from (2.1), using data from 'sweep_Em_Emo_sigma_tol_deactivated'. To plot this, uncomment lines 194-226 and comment out other options.

plot-element-failure-data.py: This python script plots the count on mesh integration point failure by erosion criterion. The cases that can be plotted follow the same structure as listed above for plotting the bluff location.

plot_thermal_evolution_modeled_versus_observational.m: This MATLAB script plots the thermal evolution of modeled versus observed ground temperature by comparing the modeled temperature against two observational probes-- the vertical thermistor string from the 2018 field study, and the USGS weather station measurements at selected dates. Instructions on script usage can be found in lines 2-18.

Supplementary data used in the plotting scripts: There are two directories within 'scripts' that house auxiliary data used in the plotting scripts.



'aux_data_for_bluff_loc_plot' provides some supplementary data for plotting in (3.1): The camera and AUV measurements in Denudation_Series.xlsx, and the considered 'storm' dates and duration in 'storm-dates-and-duration.csv'. 

'aux_data_for_thermal_evolution_plot' provides data for plotting in (3.3): The vertical thermistor probe data from the 2018 field study, stored in the MATLAB data file 'ThermistorData.mat', and extracted data from the USGS weather station probe for selected dates, stored in the csv file 'DrewPt_WxStation_extracted_dates_all_summer.csv'.

NOTE: the data found in 'Denudation_Series.xlsx' can be found in the corresponding data release: https://zenodo.org/records/14862274 in 'Erosion_Release_vF.xlsx', but is provided here for plotting convenience

NOTE: the data found in 'ThermistorData.mat' and 'DrewPt_WxStation_extracted_dates_all_summer.csv' can be found in the corresponding data release: https://zenodo.org/records/14862274, in 'SubterraneanTemperature_ReleasevF.xlsx', but is provided here for plotting convenience