Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice
Abstract We present the first direct comparison of turbulence conditions measured simultaneously over exposed ice and a 0.08 m thick supraglacial debris cover on Suldenferner, a small glacier in the Italian Alps. Surface roughness, sensible heat fluxes (~20–50 W m −2 ), latent heat fluxes (~2–10 W m...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.23 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000234 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2020.23 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2020.23 2024-06-23T07:54:15+00:00 Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice Nicholson, Lindsey Stiperski, Ivana 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.23 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000234 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 66, issue 258, page 543-555 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2020 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.23 2024-06-05T04:03:41Z Abstract We present the first direct comparison of turbulence conditions measured simultaneously over exposed ice and a 0.08 m thick supraglacial debris cover on Suldenferner, a small glacier in the Italian Alps. Surface roughness, sensible heat fluxes (~20–50 W m −2 ), latent heat fluxes (~2–10 W m −2 ), topology and scale of turbulence are similar over both glacier surface types during katabatic and synoptically disturbed conditions. Exceptions are sunny days when buoyant convection becomes significant over debris-covered ice (sensible heat flux ~ −100 W m −2 latent heat flux ~ −30 W m −2 ) and prevailing katabatic conditions are rapidly broken down even over this thin debris cover. The similarity in turbulent properties implies that both surface types can be treated the same in terms of boundary layer similarity theory. The differences in turbulence between the two surface types on this glacier are dominated by the radiative and thermal contrasts, thus during sunny days debris cover alters both the local surface turbulent energy fluxes and the glacier component of valley circulation. These variations under different flow conditions should be accounted for when distributing temperature fields for modeling applications over partially debris-covered glaciers. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 66 258 543 555 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract We present the first direct comparison of turbulence conditions measured simultaneously over exposed ice and a 0.08 m thick supraglacial debris cover on Suldenferner, a small glacier in the Italian Alps. Surface roughness, sensible heat fluxes (~20–50 W m −2 ), latent heat fluxes (~2–10 W m −2 ), topology and scale of turbulence are similar over both glacier surface types during katabatic and synoptically disturbed conditions. Exceptions are sunny days when buoyant convection becomes significant over debris-covered ice (sensible heat flux ~ −100 W m −2 latent heat flux ~ −30 W m −2 ) and prevailing katabatic conditions are rapidly broken down even over this thin debris cover. The similarity in turbulent properties implies that both surface types can be treated the same in terms of boundary layer similarity theory. The differences in turbulence between the two surface types on this glacier are dominated by the radiative and thermal contrasts, thus during sunny days debris cover alters both the local surface turbulent energy fluxes and the glacier component of valley circulation. These variations under different flow conditions should be accounted for when distributing temperature fields for modeling applications over partially debris-covered glaciers. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nicholson, Lindsey Stiperski, Ivana |
spellingShingle |
Nicholson, Lindsey Stiperski, Ivana Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
author_facet |
Nicholson, Lindsey Stiperski, Ivana |
author_sort |
Nicholson, Lindsey |
title |
Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
title_short |
Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
title_full |
Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
title_fullStr |
Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
title_sort |
comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.23 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000234 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 66, issue 258, page 543-555 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.23 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
258 |
container_start_page |
543 |
op_container_end_page |
555 |
_version_ |
1802646358694297600 |