A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007)
Past estimates of Greenland Ice Sheet accumulation rates have been multiyear climatologies based on ice/firn cores and coastal precipitation records. Existing annually resolved estimates have incompletely quantified uncertainty, owing primarily to incomplete spatial coverage. This study improves upo...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
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Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8ft341v2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jf001293 |
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt8ft341v2 2024-09-15T18:04:22+00:00 A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) Burgess, Evan W Forster, Richard R Box, Jason E Mosley‐Thompson, Ellen Bromwich, David H Bales, Roger C Smith, Laurence C 2010-06-01 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8ft341v2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jf001293 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt8ft341v2 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8ft341v2 doi:10.1029/2009jf001293 public Journal of Geophysical Research, vol 115, iss F2 Climate Action Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences article 2010 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jf001293 2024-06-28T06:28:19Z Past estimates of Greenland Ice Sheet accumulation rates have been multiyear climatologies based on ice/firn cores and coastal precipitation records. Existing annually resolved estimates have incompletely quantified uncertainty, owing primarily to incomplete spatial coverage. This study improves upon these shortcomings by calibrating annual (1958-2007) solid precipitation output from the Fifth Generation Mesoscale Model modified for polar climates (Polar MM5) using firn core and meteorological station data. The calibration employs spatial interpolation of regionally derived linear correction functions. Residual uncertainties exhibit coherent spatial patterns, which are modeled via spatial interpolation of root mean squared errors. Mean 1958-2007 Greenland Ice Sheet annual accumulation rate is 337 ± 48 mm/yr water equivalent (w.e.) or 591 ± 83 Gt/yr. Annual estimates contain one standard deviation uncertainties of 74 mm/yr w.e., 22%, or 129 Gt/yr. Accumulation rates in southeast Greenland are found to exceed 2000 mm/yr w.e. and to dominate interannual variability in Greenland Ice Sheet total accumulated mass, representing 31% of the whole. Accumulation rates in the southeast are of sufficient magnitude to affect the sign of Greenland mass balance during some years. The only statistically significant temporal change in total ice sheet accumulation in the 1958-2007 period occurred between 1960 and 1972, when a simultaneous accumulation increase and decrease occurred in west and east Greenland, respectively. No statistically significant uniform change in ice sheet-wide accumulation is evident after 1972. However, regional changes do occur, including an accumulation increase on the west coast post-1992. The high accumulation rates of 2002-2003 appear to be confined to the southeast. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet University of California: eScholarship Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 115 F2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Climate Action Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Climate Action Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Burgess, Evan W Forster, Richard R Box, Jason E Mosley‐Thompson, Ellen Bromwich, David H Bales, Roger C Smith, Laurence C A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) |
topic_facet |
Climate Action Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
Past estimates of Greenland Ice Sheet accumulation rates have been multiyear climatologies based on ice/firn cores and coastal precipitation records. Existing annually resolved estimates have incompletely quantified uncertainty, owing primarily to incomplete spatial coverage. This study improves upon these shortcomings by calibrating annual (1958-2007) solid precipitation output from the Fifth Generation Mesoscale Model modified for polar climates (Polar MM5) using firn core and meteorological station data. The calibration employs spatial interpolation of regionally derived linear correction functions. Residual uncertainties exhibit coherent spatial patterns, which are modeled via spatial interpolation of root mean squared errors. Mean 1958-2007 Greenland Ice Sheet annual accumulation rate is 337 ± 48 mm/yr water equivalent (w.e.) or 591 ± 83 Gt/yr. Annual estimates contain one standard deviation uncertainties of 74 mm/yr w.e., 22%, or 129 Gt/yr. Accumulation rates in southeast Greenland are found to exceed 2000 mm/yr w.e. and to dominate interannual variability in Greenland Ice Sheet total accumulated mass, representing 31% of the whole. Accumulation rates in the southeast are of sufficient magnitude to affect the sign of Greenland mass balance during some years. The only statistically significant temporal change in total ice sheet accumulation in the 1958-2007 period occurred between 1960 and 1972, when a simultaneous accumulation increase and decrease occurred in west and east Greenland, respectively. No statistically significant uniform change in ice sheet-wide accumulation is evident after 1972. However, regional changes do occur, including an accumulation increase on the west coast post-1992. The high accumulation rates of 2002-2003 appear to be confined to the southeast. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Burgess, Evan W Forster, Richard R Box, Jason E Mosley‐Thompson, Ellen Bromwich, David H Bales, Roger C Smith, Laurence C |
author_facet |
Burgess, Evan W Forster, Richard R Box, Jason E Mosley‐Thompson, Ellen Bromwich, David H Bales, Roger C Smith, Laurence C |
author_sort |
Burgess, Evan W |
title |
A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) |
title_short |
A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) |
title_full |
A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) |
title_fullStr |
A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) |
title_full_unstemmed |
A spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the Greenland Ice Sheet (1958–2007) |
title_sort |
spatially calibrated model of annual accumulation rate on the greenland ice sheet (1958–2007) |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8ft341v2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jf001293 |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research, vol 115, iss F2 |
op_relation |
qt8ft341v2 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8ft341v2 doi:10.1029/2009jf001293 |
op_rights |
public |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jf001293 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
container_volume |
115 |
container_issue |
F2 |
_version_ |
1810441852270149632 |