A daily, 1 km resolution data set of downscaled Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance (1958–2015)

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Noël, Brice, van de Berg, W. J., Machguth, Horst, Lhermitte, S., Howat, I., Fettweis, Xavier, van den Broeke, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus 2016
• Subjects: Physical; chemical; mathematical & earth Sciences; Earth sciences & physical geography; Physique; chimie; mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Sciences de la terre & géographie physique; Greenland; Ice Sheet; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/202537; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/202537/1/tc-10-2361-2016.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2361-2016

peer reviewed This study presents a data set of daily, 1 km resolution Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) surface mass balance (SMB) covering the period 1958–2015. Applying corrections for elevation, bare ice albedo and accumulation bias, the high-resolution product is statistically downscaled from the native daily output of the polar regional climate model RACMO2.3 at 11 km. The data set includes all individual SMB components projected to a down-sampled version of the Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) digital elevation model and ice mask. The 1 km mask better resolves narrow ablation zones, valley glaciers, fjords and disconnected ice caps. Relative to the 11 km product, the more detailed representation of isolated glaciated areas leads to increased precipitation over the southeastern GrIS. In addition, the downscaled product shows a significant increase in runoff owing to better resolved low-lying marginal glaciated regions. The combined corrections for elevation and bare ice albedo markedly improve model agreement with a newly compiled data set of ablation measurements.