Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet
We present a new method of modelling the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet, based on routing runoff estimated by a regional climate model across a digital elevation model (DEM) of the ice sheet surface. Using data acquired during the 2003 melt season, we d...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:971a37a48527443cad350bbe1b4ce83f 2023-05-15T16:27:34+02:00 Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet A. A. Leeson A. Shepherd S. Palmer A. Sundal X. Fettweis 2012-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012 https://doaj.org/article/971a37a48527443cad350bbe1b4ce83f EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1077/2012/tc-6-1077-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/971a37a48527443cad350bbe1b4ce83f The Cryosphere, Vol 6, Iss 5, Pp 1077-1086 (2012) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012 2022-12-31T12:15:08Z We present a new method of modelling the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet, based on routing runoff estimated by a regional climate model across a digital elevation model (DEM) of the ice sheet surface. Using data acquired during the 2003 melt season, we demonstrate that the model is 19 times more likely to correctly predict the presence (or absence) of lakes than it is to make incorrect predictions, within an elevation range of 1100 to 1700 metres above sea level (m a.s.l.), when compared with MODIS satellite imagery. Of the 66% of observed lake locations which the model correctly reproduces, the simulated lake onset day is found to be correlated with that observed with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.76. Our model accurately simulates maximum cumulative lake area with only a 1.5% overestimate. However, because our model does not simulate processes leading to lake stagnation or decay, such as refreezing or drainage, at present we do not simulate absolute daily lake area. We find that the maximum potential lake-covered ice sheet area is limited by topography to 6.4%. We estimate that this corresponds to a volume of 1.49 km 3 , 12% of the runoff produced in 2003. This can be taken as an upper bound given uncertainty in the DEM. This study has proved a good first step towards capturing the variability of supraglacial lake evolution with a numerical model. These initial results are promising and suggest that the model is a useful tool for use in analysing the behaviour of supraglacial lakes on the Greenland ice sheet in the present day and potentially beyond. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland The Cryosphere 6 5 1077 1086 |
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 A. A. Leeson A. Shepherd S. Palmer A. Sundal X. Fettweis Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
We present a new method of modelling the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet, based on routing runoff estimated by a regional climate model across a digital elevation model (DEM) of the ice sheet surface. Using data acquired during the 2003 melt season, we demonstrate that the model is 19 times more likely to correctly predict the presence (or absence) of lakes than it is to make incorrect predictions, within an elevation range of 1100 to 1700 metres above sea level (m a.s.l.), when compared with MODIS satellite imagery. Of the 66% of observed lake locations which the model correctly reproduces, the simulated lake onset day is found to be correlated with that observed with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.76. Our model accurately simulates maximum cumulative lake area with only a 1.5% overestimate. However, because our model does not simulate processes leading to lake stagnation or decay, such as refreezing or drainage, at present we do not simulate absolute daily lake area. We find that the maximum potential lake-covered ice sheet area is limited by topography to 6.4%. We estimate that this corresponds to a volume of 1.49 km 3 , 12% of the runoff produced in 2003. This can be taken as an upper bound given uncertainty in the DEM. This study has proved a good first step towards capturing the variability of supraglacial lake evolution with a numerical model. These initial results are promising and suggest that the model is a useful tool for use in analysing the behaviour of supraglacial lakes on the Greenland ice sheet in the present day and potentially beyond. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. A. Leeson A. Shepherd S. Palmer A. Sundal X. Fettweis |
author_facet |
A. A. Leeson A. Shepherd S. Palmer A. Sundal X. Fettweis |
author_sort |
A. A. Leeson |
title |
Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet |
title_short |
Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet |
title_full |
Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet |
title_fullStr |
Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet |
title_sort |
simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the greenland ice sheet |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012 https://doaj.org/article/971a37a48527443cad350bbe1b4ce83f |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 6, Iss 5, Pp 1077-1086 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1077/2012/tc-6-1077-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/971a37a48527443cad350bbe1b4ce83f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1077 |
op_container_end_page |
1086 |
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1766016972497092608 |