The surface energy balance of Austre Lovénbreen, Svalbard, during the ablation period in 2014

The ability to simulate the surface energy balance is key to studying land–atmosphere interactions; however, it remains a weakness in Arctic polar sciences. Based on the analysis of meteorological data from 1 June to 30 September 2014 from an automatic weather station on the glacier Austre Lovénbree...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Xiaowei Zou, Minghu Ding, Weijun Sun, Diyi Yang, Weigang Liu, Baojuan Huai, Shuang Jin, Cunde Xiao
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2021
Subjects:
high arctic
svalbard
snow/ice–air interaction
glacier
radiative fluxes
turbulent fluxes
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Arctic
Ny-Ålesund
Svalbard
albedo
Ny Ålesund
Polar Research
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5318
https://doaj.org/article/f0912a55f2124c6183e5157cab57a7fe
Description
Summary:The ability to simulate the surface energy balance is key to studying land–atmosphere interactions; however, it remains a weakness in Arctic polar sciences. Based on the analysis of meteorological data from 1 June to 30 September 2014 from an automatic weather station on the glacier Austre Lovénbreen, near Ny–Ålesund, Svalbard, we established a surface energy balance model to simulate surface melt. The results reveal that the net shortwave radiation accounts for 87% (39 W m–2) of the energy sources, and is controlled by cloud cover and surface albedo. The sensible heat equals 6 W m–2 and is a continuous energy source at the glacier surface. Net longwave radiation and latent heat account for 31% and 5% of heat sinks, respectively. The simulated summer mass balance equals –793 mm w.e., agreeing well with the observation by an ultrasonic ranger.

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