Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density
Estimates of snow and firn density are required for satellite altimetry based retrievals of ice sheet mass balance that rely on volume to mass conversions. Therefore, biases and errors in presently used density models confound assessments of ice sheet mass balance, and by extension, ice sheet contri...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tcd86560 2023-05-15T13:31:38+02:00 Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density Keenan, Eric Wever, Nander Dattler, Marissa Lenaerts, Jan T. M. Medley, Brooke Kuipers Munneke, Peter Reijmer, Carleen 2020-07-20 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-175 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-175/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-2020-175 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-175/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2020 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-175 2020-07-27T16:22:03Z Estimates of snow and firn density are required for satellite altimetry based retrievals of ice sheet mass balance that rely on volume to mass conversions. Therefore, biases and errors in presently used density models confound assessments of ice sheet mass balance, and by extension, ice sheet contribution to sea level rise. Despite this importance, most contemporary firn densification models rely on simplified semi-empirical methods, which are partially reflected by significant modeled density errors when compared to observations. In this study, we present a new, wind-driven, drifting snow compaction scheme that we have implemented into SNOWPACK, a physics-based land surface snow model. We demonstrate high-quality simulation of near-surface Antarctic snow firn density at 122 observed density profiles across the Antarctic ice sheet, as indicated by reduced model biases throughout most of the near-surface firn column when compared to two semi-empirical firn densification models. Because SNOWPACK is physics-based, its performance does not degrade when applied to sites without observations used in the calibration of semi-empirical models, and could therefore better represent firn properties in locations without extensive observations and under future climate scenarios, in which firn properties are expected to diverge from their present state. Text Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
Estimates of snow and firn density are required for satellite altimetry based retrievals of ice sheet mass balance that rely on volume to mass conversions. Therefore, biases and errors in presently used density models confound assessments of ice sheet mass balance, and by extension, ice sheet contribution to sea level rise. Despite this importance, most contemporary firn densification models rely on simplified semi-empirical methods, which are partially reflected by significant modeled density errors when compared to observations. In this study, we present a new, wind-driven, drifting snow compaction scheme that we have implemented into SNOWPACK, a physics-based land surface snow model. We demonstrate high-quality simulation of near-surface Antarctic snow firn density at 122 observed density profiles across the Antarctic ice sheet, as indicated by reduced model biases throughout most of the near-surface firn column when compared to two semi-empirical firn densification models. Because SNOWPACK is physics-based, its performance does not degrade when applied to sites without observations used in the calibration of semi-empirical models, and could therefore better represent firn properties in locations without extensive observations and under future climate scenarios, in which firn properties are expected to diverge from their present state. |
format |
Text |
author |
Keenan, Eric Wever, Nander Dattler, Marissa Lenaerts, Jan T. M. Medley, Brooke Kuipers Munneke, Peter Reijmer, Carleen |
spellingShingle |
Keenan, Eric Wever, Nander Dattler, Marissa Lenaerts, Jan T. M. Medley, Brooke Kuipers Munneke, Peter Reijmer, Carleen Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density |
author_facet |
Keenan, Eric Wever, Nander Dattler, Marissa Lenaerts, Jan T. M. Medley, Brooke Kuipers Munneke, Peter Reijmer, Carleen |
author_sort |
Keenan, Eric |
title |
Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density |
title_short |
Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density |
title_full |
Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density |
title_fullStr |
Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density |
title_full_unstemmed |
Physics-based modeling of Antarctic snow and firn density |
title_sort |
physics-based modeling of antarctic snow and firn density |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-175 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-175/ |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-2020-175 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-175/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-175 |
_version_ |
1766019635396739072 |