Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G
The firn layer that covers 90 % of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) plays an important role in determining the response of the ice sheet to climate change. Meltwater can percolate into the firn layer and refreeze at greater depths, thereby temporarily preventing mass loss. However, as global warming l...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d200121634f44408a7330770f17fb0ac 2023-05-15T16:27:18+02:00 Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G M. Brils P. Kuipers Munneke W. J. van de Berg M. van den Broeke 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7121-2022 https://doaj.org/article/d200121634f44408a7330770f17fb0ac EN eng Copernicus Publications https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/15/7121/2022/gmd-15-7121-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1991-959X https://doaj.org/toc/1991-9603 doi:10.5194/gmd-15-7121-2022 1991-959X 1991-9603 https://doaj.org/article/d200121634f44408a7330770f17fb0ac Geoscientific Model Development, Vol 15, Pp 7121-7138 (2022) Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7121-2022 2022-12-30T19:51:19Z The firn layer that covers 90 % of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) plays an important role in determining the response of the ice sheet to climate change. Meltwater can percolate into the firn layer and refreeze at greater depths, thereby temporarily preventing mass loss. However, as global warming leads to increasing surface melt, more surface melt may refreeze in the firn layer, thereby reducing the capacity to buffer subsequent episodes of melt. This can lead to a tipping point in meltwater runoff. It is therefore important to study the evolution of the Greenland firn layer in the past, present and future. In this study, we present the latest version of our firn model, IMAU-FDM (Firn Densification Model) v1.2G, with an application to the GrIS. We improved the density of freshly fallen snow, the dry-snow densification rate and the firn's thermal conductivity using recently published parametrizations and by calibration to an extended set of observations of firn density, temperature and liquid water content at the GrIS. Overall, the updated model settings lead to higher firn air content and higher 10 m firn temperatures, owing to a lower density near the surface. The effect of the new model settings on the surface elevation change is investigated through three case studies located at Summit, KAN-U and FA-13. Most notably, the updated model shows greater inter- and intra-annual variability in elevation and an increased sensitivity to climate forcing. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Geoscientific Model Development 15 18 7121 7138 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Geology QE1-996.5 M. Brils P. Kuipers Munneke W. J. van de Berg M. van den Broeke Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G |
topic_facet |
Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The firn layer that covers 90 % of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) plays an important role in determining the response of the ice sheet to climate change. Meltwater can percolate into the firn layer and refreeze at greater depths, thereby temporarily preventing mass loss. However, as global warming leads to increasing surface melt, more surface melt may refreeze in the firn layer, thereby reducing the capacity to buffer subsequent episodes of melt. This can lead to a tipping point in meltwater runoff. It is therefore important to study the evolution of the Greenland firn layer in the past, present and future. In this study, we present the latest version of our firn model, IMAU-FDM (Firn Densification Model) v1.2G, with an application to the GrIS. We improved the density of freshly fallen snow, the dry-snow densification rate and the firn's thermal conductivity using recently published parametrizations and by calibration to an extended set of observations of firn density, temperature and liquid water content at the GrIS. Overall, the updated model settings lead to higher firn air content and higher 10 m firn temperatures, owing to a lower density near the surface. The effect of the new model settings on the surface elevation change is investigated through three case studies located at Summit, KAN-U and FA-13. Most notably, the updated model shows greater inter- and intra-annual variability in elevation and an increased sensitivity to climate forcing. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Brils P. Kuipers Munneke W. J. van de Berg M. van den Broeke |
author_facet |
M. Brils P. Kuipers Munneke W. J. van de Berg M. van den Broeke |
author_sort |
M. Brils |
title |
Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G |
title_short |
Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G |
title_full |
Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G |
title_fullStr |
Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improved representation of the contemporary Greenland ice sheet firn layer by IMAU-FDM v1.2G |
title_sort |
improved representation of the contemporary greenland ice sheet firn layer by imau-fdm v1.2g |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7121-2022 https://doaj.org/article/d200121634f44408a7330770f17fb0ac |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Geoscientific Model Development, Vol 15, Pp 7121-7138 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/15/7121/2022/gmd-15-7121-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1991-959X https://doaj.org/toc/1991-9603 doi:10.5194/gmd-15-7121-2022 1991-959X 1991-9603 https://doaj.org/article/d200121634f44408a7330770f17fb0ac |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7121-2022 |
container_title |
Geoscientific Model Development |
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15 |
container_issue |
18 |
container_start_page |
7121 |
op_container_end_page |
7138 |
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