Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet
peer reviewed Understanding the role of atmospheric circulation anomalies on the surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is fundamental for improving estimates of its current and future contributions to sea level rise. Here, we show, using a combination of remote sensing observations,...
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Online Access: | https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/246645 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/246645/1/tc-14-1209-2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 |
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/246645 2024-04-21T08:03:14+00:00 Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet Tedesco, Marco Fettweis, Xavier Sphères - SPHERES 2020-04-15 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/246645 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/246645/1/tc-14-1209-2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 en eng Copernicus Group https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1209/2020/ urn:issn:1994-0416 urn:issn:1994-0424 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/246645 info:hdl:2268/246645 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/246645/1/tc-14-1209-2020.pdf doi:10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85083527979 open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess The Cryosphere, 14, 1209–1223 (2020-04-15) Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:eu-repo/semantics/article peer reviewed 2020 ftorbi https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 2024-03-27T14:58:15Z peer reviewed Understanding the role of atmospheric circulation anomalies on the surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is fundamental for improving estimates of its current and future contributions to sea level rise. Here, we show, using a combination of remote sensing observations, regional climate model outputs, reanalysis data, and artificial neural networks, that unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) occurring in the summer of 2019 over Greenland promoted new record or close-to-record values of surface mass balance (SMB), runoff, and snowfall. Specifically, runoff in 2019 ranked second within the 1948–2019 period (after 2012) and first in terms of surface mass balance negative anomaly for the hydrological year 1 September 2018–31 August 2019. The summer of 2019 was characterized by an exceptional persistence of anticyclonic conditions that, in conjunction with low albedo associated with reduced snowfall in summer, enhanced the melt–albedo feedback by promoting the absorption of solar radiation and favored advection of warm, moist air along the western portion of the ice sheet towards the north, where the surface melt has been the highest since 1948. The analysis of the frequency of daily 500 hPa geopotential heights obtained from artificial neural networks shows that the total number of days with the five most frequent atmospheric patterns that characterized the summer of 2019 was 5 standard deviations above the 1981–2010 mean, confirming the exceptional nature of the 2019 season over Greenland. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) The Cryosphere 14 4 1209 1223 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
spellingShingle |
Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique Tedesco, Marco Fettweis, Xavier Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |
topic_facet |
Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
description |
peer reviewed Understanding the role of atmospheric circulation anomalies on the surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is fundamental for improving estimates of its current and future contributions to sea level rise. Here, we show, using a combination of remote sensing observations, regional climate model outputs, reanalysis data, and artificial neural networks, that unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) occurring in the summer of 2019 over Greenland promoted new record or close-to-record values of surface mass balance (SMB), runoff, and snowfall. Specifically, runoff in 2019 ranked second within the 1948–2019 period (after 2012) and first in terms of surface mass balance negative anomaly for the hydrological year 1 September 2018–31 August 2019. The summer of 2019 was characterized by an exceptional persistence of anticyclonic conditions that, in conjunction with low albedo associated with reduced snowfall in summer, enhanced the melt–albedo feedback by promoting the absorption of solar radiation and favored advection of warm, moist air along the western portion of the ice sheet towards the north, where the surface melt has been the highest since 1948. The analysis of the frequency of daily 500 hPa geopotential heights obtained from artificial neural networks shows that the total number of days with the five most frequent atmospheric patterns that characterized the summer of 2019 was 5 standard deviations above the 1981–2010 mean, confirming the exceptional nature of the 2019 season over Greenland. |
author2 |
Sphères - SPHERES |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tedesco, Marco Fettweis, Xavier |
author_facet |
Tedesco, Marco Fettweis, Xavier |
author_sort |
Tedesco, Marco |
title |
Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |
title_short |
Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |
title_full |
Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |
title_fullStr |
Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |
title_sort |
unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the greenland ice sheet |
publisher |
Copernicus Group |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/246645 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/246645/1/tc-14-1209-2020.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, 14, 1209–1223 (2020-04-15) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1209/2020/ urn:issn:1994-0416 urn:issn:1994-0424 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/246645 info:hdl:2268/246645 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/246645/1/tc-14-1209-2020.pdf doi:10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85083527979 |
op_rights |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1209 |
op_container_end_page |
1223 |
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1796943175710932992 |