Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model
In Earth system models, terrestrial snow is usually modeled by the land surface component. In most cases, these snow models have been developed with an emphasis on seasonal snow. Questions about future sea level rise, however, prompt the need for a realistic representation of perennial snow, as snow...
Published in: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS000988 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_21279 2023-09-05T13:12:45+02:00 Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model van Kampenhout, Leonardus (author) Lenaerts, Jan T. M. (author) Lipscomb, William H. (author) Sacks, William J. (author) Lawrence, David M. (author) Slater, Andrew G. (author) van den Broeke, Michiel R. (author) 2017-11-16 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS000988 en eng Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems--J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst.--19422466 High resolution density, conductivity, deuterium, and δ¹⁸O of ice core FRI09C90_13--10.1594/PANGAEA.548743 Annual means of density, δ¹⁸O, deuterium, tritium, and accumulation rates of firn core BER01C90_01--10.1594/PANGAEA.548637 articles:21279 ark:/85065/d7qf8whn doi:10.1002/2017MS000988 Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. article Text 2017 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS000988 2023-08-14T18:48:17Z In Earth system models, terrestrial snow is usually modeled by the land surface component. In most cases, these snow models have been developed with an emphasis on seasonal snow. Questions about future sea level rise, however, prompt the need for a realistic representation of perennial snow, as snow processes play a key role in the mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. Here we enhance realism of modeled polar snow in the Community Land Model (CLM), the land component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM), by implementing (1) new parametrizations for fresh snow density, destructive metamorphism, and compaction by overburden pressure, (2) by allowing for deeper snow packs, and (3) by introducing drifting snow compaction, with a focus on the ice sheet interior. Comparison with Greenlandic and Antarctic snow density observations show that the new physics improve model skill in predicting firn and near-surface density in the absence of melt. Moreover, compensating biases are removed and spurious subsurface melt rates at ice sheets are eliminated. The deeper snow pack enhances refreezing and allows for deeper percolation, raising ice temperatures up to 15 degrees C above the skin temperature. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic greenlandic Ice Sheet OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Antarctic Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9 7 2583 2600 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
In Earth system models, terrestrial snow is usually modeled by the land surface component. In most cases, these snow models have been developed with an emphasis on seasonal snow. Questions about future sea level rise, however, prompt the need for a realistic representation of perennial snow, as snow processes play a key role in the mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. Here we enhance realism of modeled polar snow in the Community Land Model (CLM), the land component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM), by implementing (1) new parametrizations for fresh snow density, destructive metamorphism, and compaction by overburden pressure, (2) by allowing for deeper snow packs, and (3) by introducing drifting snow compaction, with a focus on the ice sheet interior. Comparison with Greenlandic and Antarctic snow density observations show that the new physics improve model skill in predicting firn and near-surface density in the absence of melt. Moreover, compensating biases are removed and spurious subsurface melt rates at ice sheets are eliminated. The deeper snow pack enhances refreezing and allows for deeper percolation, raising ice temperatures up to 15 degrees C above the skin temperature. |
author2 |
van Kampenhout, Leonardus (author) Lenaerts, Jan T. M. (author) Lipscomb, William H. (author) Sacks, William J. (author) Lawrence, David M. (author) Slater, Andrew G. (author) van den Broeke, Michiel R. (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model |
spellingShingle |
Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model |
title_short |
Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model |
title_full |
Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model |
title_fullStr |
Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the Community Earth System Model |
title_sort |
improving the representation of polar snow and firn in the community earth system model |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS000988 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic greenlandic Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic greenlandic Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems--J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst.--19422466 High resolution density, conductivity, deuterium, and δ¹⁸O of ice core FRI09C90_13--10.1594/PANGAEA.548743 Annual means of density, δ¹⁸O, deuterium, tritium, and accumulation rates of firn core BER01C90_01--10.1594/PANGAEA.548637 articles:21279 ark:/85065/d7qf8whn doi:10.1002/2017MS000988 |
op_rights |
Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS000988 |
container_title |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2583 |
op_container_end_page |
2600 |
_version_ |
1776201612076777472 |