Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes
Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has recently experienced increased ice loss that has mostly been attributed to basal melt and ocean ice dynamics. However, atmospheric forcing also plays a role in the ice mass budget, as besides lower-latitude warm air intrusions, the steeply sloping terrain that surrounds...
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Copernicus Publications
2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:30caf87ed7f04c28bc586fa7f1c415d0 2023-08-20T04:01:35+02:00 Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes D. Francis R. Fonseca K. S. Mattingly S. Lhermitte C. Walker 2023-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3041-2023 https://doaj.org/article/30caf87ed7f04c28bc586fa7f1c415d0 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/3041/2023/tc-17-3041-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-3041-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/30caf87ed7f04c28bc586fa7f1c415d0 The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 3041-3062 (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3041-2023 2023-07-30T00:38:58Z Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has recently experienced increased ice loss that has mostly been attributed to basal melt and ocean ice dynamics. However, atmospheric forcing also plays a role in the ice mass budget, as besides lower-latitude warm air intrusions, the steeply sloping terrain that surrounds the glacier promotes frequent Foehn winds. An investigation of 41 years of reanalysis data reveals that Foehn occurs more frequently from June to October, with Foehn episodes typically lasting about 5 to 9 h. An analysis of the surface mass balance indicated that their largest impact is on the surface sublimation, which is increased by about 1.43 mm water equivalent (w.e.) per day with respect to no-Foehn events. Blowing snow makes roughly the same contribution as snowfall, around 0.34–0.36 mm w.e. d −1 , but with the opposite sign. The melting rate is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the surface sublimation rate. The negative phase of the Antarctic oscillation and the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode promote the occurrence of Foehn at PIG. A particularly strong event took place on 9–11 November 2011, when 10 m winds speeds in excess of 20 m s −1 led to downward sensible heat fluxes higher than 75 W m −2 as they descended the mountainous terrain. Surface sublimation and blowing-snow sublimation dominated the surface mass balance, with magnitudes of up to 0.13 mm w.e. h −1 . Satellite data indicated an hourly surface melting area exceeding 100 km 2 . Our results stress the importance of the atmospheric forcing on the ice mass balance at PIG. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Pine Island Glacier The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Pine Island Glacier ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) The Antarctic The Cryosphere 17 7 3041 3062 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 D. Francis R. Fonseca K. S. Mattingly S. Lhermitte C. Walker Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has recently experienced increased ice loss that has mostly been attributed to basal melt and ocean ice dynamics. However, atmospheric forcing also plays a role in the ice mass budget, as besides lower-latitude warm air intrusions, the steeply sloping terrain that surrounds the glacier promotes frequent Foehn winds. An investigation of 41 years of reanalysis data reveals that Foehn occurs more frequently from June to October, with Foehn episodes typically lasting about 5 to 9 h. An analysis of the surface mass balance indicated that their largest impact is on the surface sublimation, which is increased by about 1.43 mm water equivalent (w.e.) per day with respect to no-Foehn events. Blowing snow makes roughly the same contribution as snowfall, around 0.34–0.36 mm w.e. d −1 , but with the opposite sign. The melting rate is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the surface sublimation rate. The negative phase of the Antarctic oscillation and the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode promote the occurrence of Foehn at PIG. A particularly strong event took place on 9–11 November 2011, when 10 m winds speeds in excess of 20 m s −1 led to downward sensible heat fluxes higher than 75 W m −2 as they descended the mountainous terrain. Surface sublimation and blowing-snow sublimation dominated the surface mass balance, with magnitudes of up to 0.13 mm w.e. h −1 . Satellite data indicated an hourly surface melting area exceeding 100 km 2 . Our results stress the importance of the atmospheric forcing on the ice mass balance at PIG. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
D. Francis R. Fonseca K. S. Mattingly S. Lhermitte C. Walker |
author_facet |
D. Francis R. Fonseca K. S. Mattingly S. Lhermitte C. Walker |
author_sort |
D. Francis |
title |
Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes |
title_short |
Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes |
title_full |
Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes |
title_fullStr |
Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Foehn winds at Pine Island Glacier and their role in ice changes |
title_sort |
foehn winds at pine island glacier and their role in ice changes |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3041-2023 https://doaj.org/article/30caf87ed7f04c28bc586fa7f1c415d0 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-101.000,-101.000,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Pine Island Glacier The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pine Island Glacier The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Pine Island Glacier The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Pine Island Glacier The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 3041-3062 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/3041/2023/tc-17-3041-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-3041-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/30caf87ed7f04c28bc586fa7f1c415d0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3041-2023 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
3041 |
op_container_end_page |
3062 |
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1774724841943859200 |