Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland
Greenland ice sheet surface runoff is drained through supraglacial stream networks. This evacuation influences surface mass balance as well as ice dynamics. However, in situ observations of meltwater discharge through these stream networks are rare. In this study, we present 46 discrete discharge me...
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Copernicus Publications
2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c0d4210fad164fcd9f9d3d396633f1c0 2023-05-15T16:27:05+02:00 Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland R. Muthyala Å. K. Rennermalm S. Z. Leidman M. G. Cooper S. W. Cooley L. C. Smith D. van As 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022 https://doaj.org/article/c0d4210fad164fcd9f9d3d396633f1c0 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2245/2022/tc-16-2245-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/c0d4210fad164fcd9f9d3d396633f1c0 The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 2245-2263 (2022) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022 2022-12-30T23:21:05Z Greenland ice sheet surface runoff is drained through supraglacial stream networks. This evacuation influences surface mass balance as well as ice dynamics. However, in situ observations of meltwater discharge through these stream networks are rare. In this study, we present 46 discrete discharge measurements and continuous water level measurements for 62 d spanning the majority of of the melt season (13 June to 13 August) in 2016 for a 0.6 km 2 supraglacial stream catchment in southwest Greenland. The result is an unprecedentedly long record of supraglacial discharge that captures both diurnal variability and changes over the melt season. A comparison of surface energy fluxes to stream discharge reveals shortwave radiation as the primary driver of melting. However, during high-melt episodes, the contribution of shortwave radiation to melt energy is reduced by ∼40 % (from 1.13 to 0.73 proportion). Instead, the relative contribution of longwave radiation, sensible heat fluxes, and latent heat fluxes to overall melt increases by ∼24 %, 6 %, and 10 % (proportion increased from −0.32 to −0.08 , 0.28 to 0.34, and −0.04 to 0.06) respectively. Our data also identify that the timing of daily maximum discharge during clear-sky days shifts from 16:00 local time (i.e., 2 h 45 min after solar noon) in late June to 14:00 in late July and then rapidly returns to 16:00 in early August. The change in the timing of daily maximum discharge could be attributed to the expansion and contraction of the stream network, caused by skin temperatures that likely fell below freezing at night. The abrupt shift, in early August, in the timing of daily maximum discharge coincides with a drop in air temperature, a drop in the amount of water temporarily stored in weathering crust, and a decreasing covariance between stream velocity and discharge. Further work is needed to investigate if these results can be transferable to larger catchments and uncover if rapid shifts in the timing of peak discharge are widespread across Greenland supraglacial ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland The Cryosphere 16 6 2245 2263 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 R. Muthyala Å. K. Rennermalm S. Z. Leidman M. G. Cooper S. W. Cooley L. C. Smith D. van As Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Greenland ice sheet surface runoff is drained through supraglacial stream networks. This evacuation influences surface mass balance as well as ice dynamics. However, in situ observations of meltwater discharge through these stream networks are rare. In this study, we present 46 discrete discharge measurements and continuous water level measurements for 62 d spanning the majority of of the melt season (13 June to 13 August) in 2016 for a 0.6 km 2 supraglacial stream catchment in southwest Greenland. The result is an unprecedentedly long record of supraglacial discharge that captures both diurnal variability and changes over the melt season. A comparison of surface energy fluxes to stream discharge reveals shortwave radiation as the primary driver of melting. However, during high-melt episodes, the contribution of shortwave radiation to melt energy is reduced by ∼40 % (from 1.13 to 0.73 proportion). Instead, the relative contribution of longwave radiation, sensible heat fluxes, and latent heat fluxes to overall melt increases by ∼24 %, 6 %, and 10 % (proportion increased from −0.32 to −0.08 , 0.28 to 0.34, and −0.04 to 0.06) respectively. Our data also identify that the timing of daily maximum discharge during clear-sky days shifts from 16:00 local time (i.e., 2 h 45 min after solar noon) in late June to 14:00 in late July and then rapidly returns to 16:00 in early August. The change in the timing of daily maximum discharge could be attributed to the expansion and contraction of the stream network, caused by skin temperatures that likely fell below freezing at night. The abrupt shift, in early August, in the timing of daily maximum discharge coincides with a drop in air temperature, a drop in the amount of water temporarily stored in weathering crust, and a decreasing covariance between stream velocity and discharge. Further work is needed to investigate if these results can be transferable to larger catchments and uncover if rapid shifts in the timing of peak discharge are widespread across Greenland supraglacial ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
R. Muthyala Å. K. Rennermalm S. Z. Leidman M. G. Cooper S. W. Cooley L. C. Smith D. van As |
author_facet |
R. Muthyala Å. K. Rennermalm S. Z. Leidman M. G. Cooper S. W. Cooley L. C. Smith D. van As |
author_sort |
R. Muthyala |
title |
Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland |
title_short |
Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland |
title_full |
Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland |
title_sort |
supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest greenland |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022 https://doaj.org/article/c0d4210fad164fcd9f9d3d396633f1c0 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 2245-2263 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2245/2022/tc-16-2245-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/c0d4210fad164fcd9f9d3d396633f1c0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2245 |
op_container_end_page |
2263 |
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1766016144057040896 |