Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau
Surface mass balances of polar ice sheets are essential to estimate the contribution of ice sheets to sea level rise. Uncertain snow and firn densities lead to significant uncertainties in surface mass balances, especially in the interior regions of the ice sheets, such as the East Antarctic Plateau...
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Copernicus Publications
2020
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 https://doaj.org/article/9ac15ea2931c413c9d161169c6998c8d |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9ac15ea2931c413c9d161169c6998c8d 2023-05-15T14:02:48+02:00 Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau A. H. Weinhart J. Freitag M. Hörhold S. Kipfstuhl O. Eisen 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 https://doaj.org/article/9ac15ea2931c413c9d161169c6998c8d EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/3663/2020/tc-14-3663-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/9ac15ea2931c413c9d161169c6998c8d The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 3663-3685 (2020) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 2022-12-31T11:30:27Z Surface mass balances of polar ice sheets are essential to estimate the contribution of ice sheets to sea level rise. Uncertain snow and firn densities lead to significant uncertainties in surface mass balances, especially in the interior regions of the ice sheets, such as the East Antarctic Plateau (EAP). Robust field measurements of surface snow density are sparse and challenging due to local noise. Here, we present a snow density dataset from an overland traverse in austral summer 2016/17 on the Dronning Maud Land plateau. The sampling strategy using 1 m carbon fiber tubes covered various spatial scales, as well as a high-resolution study in a trench at 79 ∘ S, 30 ∘ E. The 1 m snow density has been derived volumetrically, and vertical snow profiles have been measured using a core-scale microfocus X-ray computer tomograph. With an error of less than 2 %, our method provides higher precision than other sampling devices of smaller volume. With four spatially independent snow profiles per location, we reduce the local noise and derive a representative 1 m snow density with an error of the mean of less than 1.5 %. Assessing sampling methods used in previous studies, we find the highest horizontal variability in density in the upper 0.3 m and therefore recommend the 1 m snow density as a robust measure of surface snow density in future studies. The average 1 m snow density across the EAP is 355 kg m −3 , which we identify as representative surface snow density between Kohnen Station and Dome Fuji. We cannot detect a temporal trend caused by the temperature increase over the last 2 decades. A difference of more than 10 % to the density of 320 kg m −3 suggested by a semiempirical firn model for the same region indicates the necessity for further calibration of surface snow density parameterizations. Our data provide a solid baseline for tuning the surface snow density parameterizations for regions with low accumulation and low temperatures like the EAP. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Dronning Maud Land The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Austral Dome Fuji ENVELOPE(39.700,39.700,-77.317,-77.317) Dronning Maud Land Kohnen ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-75.000,-75.000) Kohnen Station ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-75.000,-75.000) The Cryosphere 14 11 3663 3685 |
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. H. Weinhart J. Freitag M. Hörhold S. Kipfstuhl O. Eisen Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Surface mass balances of polar ice sheets are essential to estimate the contribution of ice sheets to sea level rise. Uncertain snow and firn densities lead to significant uncertainties in surface mass balances, especially in the interior regions of the ice sheets, such as the East Antarctic Plateau (EAP). Robust field measurements of surface snow density are sparse and challenging due to local noise. Here, we present a snow density dataset from an overland traverse in austral summer 2016/17 on the Dronning Maud Land plateau. The sampling strategy using 1 m carbon fiber tubes covered various spatial scales, as well as a high-resolution study in a trench at 79 ∘ S, 30 ∘ E. The 1 m snow density has been derived volumetrically, and vertical snow profiles have been measured using a core-scale microfocus X-ray computer tomograph. With an error of less than 2 %, our method provides higher precision than other sampling devices of smaller volume. With four spatially independent snow profiles per location, we reduce the local noise and derive a representative 1 m snow density with an error of the mean of less than 1.5 %. Assessing sampling methods used in previous studies, we find the highest horizontal variability in density in the upper 0.3 m and therefore recommend the 1 m snow density as a robust measure of surface snow density in future studies. The average 1 m snow density across the EAP is 355 kg m −3 , which we identify as representative surface snow density between Kohnen Station and Dome Fuji. We cannot detect a temporal trend caused by the temperature increase over the last 2 decades. A difference of more than 10 % to the density of 320 kg m −3 suggested by a semiempirical firn model for the same region indicates the necessity for further calibration of surface snow density parameterizations. Our data provide a solid baseline for tuning the surface snow density parameterizations for regions with low accumulation and low temperatures like the EAP. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. H. Weinhart J. Freitag M. Hörhold S. Kipfstuhl O. Eisen |
author_facet |
A. H. Weinhart J. Freitag M. Hörhold S. Kipfstuhl O. Eisen |
author_sort |
A. H. Weinhart |
title |
Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau |
title_short |
Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau |
title_full |
Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau |
title_fullStr |
Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau |
title_sort |
representative surface snow density on the east antarctic plateau |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 https://doaj.org/article/9ac15ea2931c413c9d161169c6998c8d |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(39.700,39.700,-77.317,-77.317) ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-75.000,-75.000) ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-75.000,-75.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral Dome Fuji Dronning Maud Land Kohnen Kohnen Station |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral Dome Fuji Dronning Maud Land Kohnen Kohnen Station |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Dronning Maud Land The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Dronning Maud Land The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 3663-3685 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/3663/2020/tc-14-3663-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/9ac15ea2931c413c9d161169c6998c8d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
3663 |
op_container_end_page |
3685 |
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1766273211725512704 |