Performance Optimization of Ice Sheet Simulation Models : Examining ways to speed up simulations, enabling for upscaling with more data

Abstract: This study aims to examine how simulation models can be performance optimized in Python. Optimized in the sense of executing faster and enabling upscaling with more data. To meet this aim, two models simulating the Greenland ice sheet are studied. The simulation of ice sheets is an important part of glaciology and climate change research. By following an iterative spiral model of software development and evolution with focus on the bottlenecks, it is possible to optimize the most time-consuming code sections. Several iterations of implementing tools and techniques suitable for Python code are performed, such as implementing libraries, changing data structures, and improving code hygiene. Once the models are optimized, the upscaling with a new dataset, called CARRA, created from observations and modelled outcomes combined, is studied. The results indicate that the most effective approach of performance optimizing is to implement the Numba library to compile critical code sections to machine code and to parallelize the simulations using Joblib. Depending on the data used and the size and granularity of the simulations, simulations between 1.5 and 3.2 times the speed are gained. When simulating CARRA data, the optimized code still results in faster simulations. However, the outcome demonstrates that differences exist between the ice sheets simulated by the dataset initially used and CARRA data. Even though the CARRA dataset yields a different glaciological result, the overall changes in the ice sheet are similar to the changes shown in the initial dataset simulations. The CARRA dataset could possibly be used for getting an overview of what is happening to the ice sheet, but not for making detailed analyses, where exact numbers are needed.