Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar
Contemporary climate warming over the Arctic is accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet through increasing surface melt, emphasizing the need to closely monitor its surface mass balance in order to improve sea-level rise predictions. Snow accumulation is the largest component of the ice...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 https://doaj.org/article/6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb 2023-05-15T15:08:39+02:00 Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar L. S. Koenig A. Ivanoff P. M. Alexander J. A. MacGregor X. Fettweis B. Panzer J. D. Paden R. R. Forster I. Das J. R. McConnell M. Tedesco C. Leuschen P. Gogineni 2016-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 https://doaj.org/article/6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1739/2016/tc-10-1739-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 https://doaj.org/article/6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 4, Pp 1739-1752 (2016) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 2022-12-31T04:47:07Z Contemporary climate warming over the Arctic is accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet through increasing surface melt, emphasizing the need to closely monitor its surface mass balance in order to improve sea-level rise predictions. Snow accumulation is the largest component of the ice sheet's surface mass balance, but in situ observations thereof are inherently sparse and models are difficult to evaluate at large scales. Here, we quantify recent Greenland accumulation rates using ultra-wideband (2–6.5 GHz) airborne snow radar data collected as part of NASA's Operation IceBridge between 2009 and 2012. We use a semiautomated method to trace the observed radiostratigraphy and then derive annual net accumulation rates for 2009–2012. The uncertainty in these radar-derived accumulation rates is on average 14 %. A comparison of the radar-derived accumulation rates and contemporaneous ice cores shows that snow radar captures both the annual and long-term mean accumulation rate accurately. A comparison with outputs from a regional climate model (MAR) shows that this model matches radar-derived accumulation rates in the ice sheet interior but produces higher values over southeastern Greenland. Our results demonstrate that snow radar can efficiently and accurately map patterns of snow accumulation across an ice sheet and that it is valuable for evaluating the accuracy of surface mass balance models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland The Cryosphere 10 4 1739 1752 |
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 L. S. Koenig A. Ivanoff P. M. Alexander J. A. MacGregor X. Fettweis B. Panzer J. D. Paden R. R. Forster I. Das J. R. McConnell M. Tedesco C. Leuschen P. Gogineni Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Contemporary climate warming over the Arctic is accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet through increasing surface melt, emphasizing the need to closely monitor its surface mass balance in order to improve sea-level rise predictions. Snow accumulation is the largest component of the ice sheet's surface mass balance, but in situ observations thereof are inherently sparse and models are difficult to evaluate at large scales. Here, we quantify recent Greenland accumulation rates using ultra-wideband (2–6.5 GHz) airborne snow radar data collected as part of NASA's Operation IceBridge between 2009 and 2012. We use a semiautomated method to trace the observed radiostratigraphy and then derive annual net accumulation rates for 2009–2012. The uncertainty in these radar-derived accumulation rates is on average 14 %. A comparison of the radar-derived accumulation rates and contemporaneous ice cores shows that snow radar captures both the annual and long-term mean accumulation rate accurately. A comparison with outputs from a regional climate model (MAR) shows that this model matches radar-derived accumulation rates in the ice sheet interior but produces higher values over southeastern Greenland. Our results demonstrate that snow radar can efficiently and accurately map patterns of snow accumulation across an ice sheet and that it is valuable for evaluating the accuracy of surface mass balance models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. S. Koenig A. Ivanoff P. M. Alexander J. A. MacGregor X. Fettweis B. Panzer J. D. Paden R. R. Forster I. Das J. R. McConnell M. Tedesco C. Leuschen P. Gogineni |
author_facet |
L. S. Koenig A. Ivanoff P. M. Alexander J. A. MacGregor X. Fettweis B. Panzer J. D. Paden R. R. Forster I. Das J. R. McConnell M. Tedesco C. Leuschen P. Gogineni |
author_sort |
L. S. Koenig |
title |
Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
title_short |
Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
title_full |
Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
title_fullStr |
Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
title_full_unstemmed |
Annual Greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
title_sort |
annual greenland accumulation rates (2009–2012) from airborne snow radar |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 https://doaj.org/article/6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 4, Pp 1739-1752 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1739/2016/tc-10-1739-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 https://doaj.org/article/6daf935344fe49a9ad52bfe9c84d9ddb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1739 |
op_container_end_page |
1752 |
_version_ |
1766339966959353856 |