Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective
International audience Snowfall is the major source of mass for the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) but the spatial and temporal variability of snowfall and the connections between snowfall and mass balance have so far been inadequately quantified. By characterizing local atmospheric circulation and util...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Online Access: | https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/file/tc-16-435-2022.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 |
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:insu-03726919v1 2023-07-23T04:19:25+02:00 Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective Gallagher, Michael R. Shupe, Matthew D. Chepfer, Hélène L'Ecuyer, Tristan Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL) 2022 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/file/tc-16-435-2022.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 en eng HAL CCSD Copernicus info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/file/tc-16-435-2022.pdf BIBCODE: 2022TCry.16.435G doi:10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1994-0424 EISSN: 1994-0416 The Cryosphere https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 The Cryosphere, 2022, 16, pp.435-450. ⟨10.5194/tc-16-435-2022⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2022 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 2023-07-01T23:57:09Z International audience Snowfall is the major source of mass for the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) but the spatial and temporal variability of snowfall and the connections between snowfall and mass balance have so far been inadequately quantified. By characterizing local atmospheric circulation and utilizing CloudSat spaceborne radar observations of snowfall, we provide a detailed spatial analysis of snowfall variability and its relationship to Greenland mass balance, presenting first-of-their-kind maps of daily spatial variability in snowfall from observations across Greenland. For identified regional atmospheric circulation patterns, we show that the spatial distribution and net mass input of snowfall vary significantly with the position and strength of surface cyclones. Cyclones west of Greenland driving southerly flow contribute significantly more snowfall than any other circulation regime, with each daily occurrence of the most extreme southerly circulation pattern contributing an average of 1.66 Gt of snow to the Greenland ice sheet. While cyclones east of Greenland, patterns with the least snowfall, contribute as little as 0.58 Gt each day. Above 2 km on the ice sheet where snowfall is inconsistent, extreme southerly patterns are the most significant mass contributors, with up to 1.20 Gt of snowfall above this elevation. This analysis demonstrates that snowfall over the interior of Greenland varies by up to a factor of 5 depending on regional circulation conditions. Using independent observations of mass changes made by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), we verify that the largest mass increases are tied to the southerly regime with cyclones west of Greenland. For occurrences of the strongest southerly pattern, GRACE indicates a net mass increase of 1.29 Gt in the ice sheet accumulation zone (above 2 km elevation) compared to the 1.20 Gt of snowfall observed by CloudSat. This overall agreement suggests that the analytical approach presented here can be used to directly quantify snowfall ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Greenland The Cryosphere 16 2 435 450 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Gallagher, Michael R. Shupe, Matthew D. Chepfer, Hélène L'Ecuyer, Tristan Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience Snowfall is the major source of mass for the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) but the spatial and temporal variability of snowfall and the connections between snowfall and mass balance have so far been inadequately quantified. By characterizing local atmospheric circulation and utilizing CloudSat spaceborne radar observations of snowfall, we provide a detailed spatial analysis of snowfall variability and its relationship to Greenland mass balance, presenting first-of-their-kind maps of daily spatial variability in snowfall from observations across Greenland. For identified regional atmospheric circulation patterns, we show that the spatial distribution and net mass input of snowfall vary significantly with the position and strength of surface cyclones. Cyclones west of Greenland driving southerly flow contribute significantly more snowfall than any other circulation regime, with each daily occurrence of the most extreme southerly circulation pattern contributing an average of 1.66 Gt of snow to the Greenland ice sheet. While cyclones east of Greenland, patterns with the least snowfall, contribute as little as 0.58 Gt each day. Above 2 km on the ice sheet where snowfall is inconsistent, extreme southerly patterns are the most significant mass contributors, with up to 1.20 Gt of snowfall above this elevation. This analysis demonstrates that snowfall over the interior of Greenland varies by up to a factor of 5 depending on regional circulation conditions. Using independent observations of mass changes made by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), we verify that the largest mass increases are tied to the southerly regime with cyclones west of Greenland. For occurrences of the strongest southerly pattern, GRACE indicates a net mass increase of 1.29 Gt in the ice sheet accumulation zone (above 2 km elevation) compared to the 1.20 Gt of snowfall observed by CloudSat. This overall agreement suggests that the analytical approach presented here can be used to directly quantify snowfall ... |
author2 |
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gallagher, Michael R. Shupe, Matthew D. Chepfer, Hélène L'Ecuyer, Tristan |
author_facet |
Gallagher, Michael R. Shupe, Matthew D. Chepfer, Hélène L'Ecuyer, Tristan |
author_sort |
Gallagher, Michael R. |
title |
Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
title_short |
Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
title_full |
Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
title_fullStr |
Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relating snowfall observations to Greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
title_sort |
relating snowfall observations to greenland ice sheet mass changes: an atmospheric circulation perspective |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/file/tc-16-435-2022.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
ISSN: 1994-0424 EISSN: 1994-0416 The Cryosphere https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 The Cryosphere, 2022, 16, pp.435-450. ⟨10.5194/tc-16-435-2022⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/document https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03726919/file/tc-16-435-2022.pdf BIBCODE: 2022TCry.16.435G doi:10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-435-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
435 |
op_container_end_page |
450 |
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1772182504186314752 |