Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere
The IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate identified major gaps in our knowledge of snow and glacier ice in the terrestrial cryosphere. These gaps are limiting our ability to predict the future of the energy and water balance of the Earth's surface, which in turn af...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 https://doaj.org/article/84f57f36858e4c9bb2ba2ace94ba8abd |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:84f57f36858e4c9bb2ba2ace94ba8abd 2023-05-15T16:37:29+02:00 Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere Hamish D. Pritchard 2021-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 https://doaj.org/article/84f57f36858e4c9bb2ba2ace94ba8abd EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823/full https://doaj.org/toc/2624-9553 2624-9553 doi:10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 https://doaj.org/article/84f57f36858e4c9bb2ba2ace94ba8abd Frontiers in Climate, Vol 3 (2021) snowfall glacier ice water SWE survey Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 2022-12-31T06:56:38Z The IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate identified major gaps in our knowledge of snow and glacier ice in the terrestrial cryosphere. These gaps are limiting our ability to predict the future of the energy and water balance of the Earth's surface, which in turn affect regional climate, biodiversity and biomass, the freezing and thawing of permafrost, the seasonal supply of water for one sixth of the global population, the rate of global sea level rise and the risk of riverine and coastal flooding. Snow and ice are highly susceptible to climate change but although their spatial extents are routinely monitored, the fundamental property of their water content is remarkably poorly observed. Specifically, there is a profound lack of basic but problematic observations of the amount of water supplied by snowfall and of the volume of water stored in glaciers. As a result, the climatological precipitation of the mountain cryosphere is, for example, biassed low by 50–100%, and biases in the volume of glacier ice are unknown but are likely to be large. More and better basic observations of snow and ice water content are urgently needed to constrain climate models of the cryosphere, and this requires a transformation in the capabilities of snow-monitoring and glacier-surveying instruments. I describe new solutions to this long-standing problem that if deployed widely could achieve this transformation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Climate 3 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
snowfall glacier ice water SWE survey Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
snowfall glacier ice water SWE survey Environmental sciences GE1-350 Hamish D. Pritchard Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere |
topic_facet |
snowfall glacier ice water SWE survey Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
The IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate identified major gaps in our knowledge of snow and glacier ice in the terrestrial cryosphere. These gaps are limiting our ability to predict the future of the energy and water balance of the Earth's surface, which in turn affect regional climate, biodiversity and biomass, the freezing and thawing of permafrost, the seasonal supply of water for one sixth of the global population, the rate of global sea level rise and the risk of riverine and coastal flooding. Snow and ice are highly susceptible to climate change but although their spatial extents are routinely monitored, the fundamental property of their water content is remarkably poorly observed. Specifically, there is a profound lack of basic but problematic observations of the amount of water supplied by snowfall and of the volume of water stored in glaciers. As a result, the climatological precipitation of the mountain cryosphere is, for example, biassed low by 50–100%, and biases in the volume of glacier ice are unknown but are likely to be large. More and better basic observations of snow and ice water content are urgently needed to constrain climate models of the cryosphere, and this requires a transformation in the capabilities of snow-monitoring and glacier-surveying instruments. I describe new solutions to this long-standing problem that if deployed widely could achieve this transformation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hamish D. Pritchard |
author_facet |
Hamish D. Pritchard |
author_sort |
Hamish D. Pritchard |
title |
Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere |
title_short |
Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere |
title_full |
Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere |
title_fullStr |
Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Global Data Gaps in Our Knowledge of the Terrestrial Cryosphere |
title_sort |
global data gaps in our knowledge of the terrestrial cryosphere |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 https://doaj.org/article/84f57f36858e4c9bb2ba2ace94ba8abd |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_source |
Frontiers in Climate, Vol 3 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823/full https://doaj.org/toc/2624-9553 2624-9553 doi:10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 https://doaj.org/article/84f57f36858e4c9bb2ba2ace94ba8abd |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.689823 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Climate |
container_volume |
3 |
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1766027783444627456 |