Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff.
peer reviewed The Greenland ice sheet has become one of the main contributors to global sea level rise, predominantly through increased meltwater runoff. The main drivers of Greenland ice sheet runoff, however, remain poorly understood. Here we show that clouds enhance meltwater runoff by about one-...
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Online Access: | https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301893 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301893/1/VanTricht_Ncomms_2016.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10266 |
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/301893 2024-04-21T08:02:49+00:00 Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. Van Tricht, K Lhermitte, S Lenaerts, J T M Gorodetskaya, I V L'Ecuyer, T S Noël, Brice van den Broeke, M R Turner, D D van Lipzig, N P M 2016-01-12 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301893 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301893/1/VanTricht_Ncomms_2016.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10266 en eng Nature Publishing Group https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10266.pdf urn:issn:2041-1723 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301893 info:hdl:2268/301893 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301893/1/VanTricht_Ncomms_2016.pdf doi:10.1038/ncomms10266 scopus-id:2-s2.0-84954460891 info:pmid:26756470 open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Nature Communications, 7 (1), 10266 (2016-01-12) Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Multidisciplinary 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 2016 ftorbi https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10266 2024-03-27T14:57:53Z peer reviewed The Greenland ice sheet has become one of the main contributors to global sea level rise, predominantly through increased meltwater runoff. The main drivers of Greenland ice sheet runoff, however, remain poorly understood. Here we show that clouds enhance meltwater runoff by about one-third relative to clear skies, using a unique combination of active satellite observations, climate model data and snow model simulations. This impact results from a cloud radiative effect of 29.5 (±5.2) W m(-2). Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, the Greenland ice sheet responds to this energy through a new pathway by which clouds reduce meltwater refreezing as opposed to increasing surface melt directly, thereby accelerating bare-ice exposure and enhancing meltwater runoff. The high sensitivity of the Greenland ice sheet to both ice-only and liquid-bearing clouds highlights the need for accurate cloud representations in climate models, to better predict future contributions of the Greenland ice sheet to global sea level rise. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) Nature Communications 7 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Multidisciplinary Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
spellingShingle |
Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Multidisciplinary Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique Van Tricht, K Lhermitte, S Lenaerts, J T M Gorodetskaya, I V L'Ecuyer, T S Noël, Brice van den Broeke, M R Turner, D D van Lipzig, N P M Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
topic_facet |
Chemistry (all) Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology (all) Physics and Astronomy (all) General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Multidisciplinary 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 The Greenland ice sheet has become one of the main contributors to global sea level rise, predominantly through increased meltwater runoff. The main drivers of Greenland ice sheet runoff, however, remain poorly understood. Here we show that clouds enhance meltwater runoff by about one-third relative to clear skies, using a unique combination of active satellite observations, climate model data and snow model simulations. This impact results from a cloud radiative effect of 29.5 (±5.2) W m(-2). Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, the Greenland ice sheet responds to this energy through a new pathway by which clouds reduce meltwater refreezing as opposed to increasing surface melt directly, thereby accelerating bare-ice exposure and enhancing meltwater runoff. The high sensitivity of the Greenland ice sheet to both ice-only and liquid-bearing clouds highlights the need for accurate cloud representations in climate models, to better predict future contributions of the Greenland ice sheet to global sea level rise. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Van Tricht, K Lhermitte, S Lenaerts, J T M Gorodetskaya, I V L'Ecuyer, T S Noël, Brice van den Broeke, M R Turner, D D van Lipzig, N P M |
author_facet |
Van Tricht, K Lhermitte, S Lenaerts, J T M Gorodetskaya, I V L'Ecuyer, T S Noël, Brice van den Broeke, M R Turner, D D van Lipzig, N P M |
author_sort |
Van Tricht, K |
title |
Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
title_short |
Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
title_full |
Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
title_fullStr |
Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
title_sort |
clouds enhance greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301893 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301893/1/VanTricht_Ncomms_2016.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10266 |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Nature Communications, 7 (1), 10266 (2016-01-12) |
op_relation |
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10266.pdf urn:issn:2041-1723 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301893 info:hdl:2268/301893 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301893/1/VanTricht_Ncomms_2016.pdf doi:10.1038/ncomms10266 scopus-id:2-s2.0-84954460891 info:pmid:26756470 |
op_rights |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10266 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1796942907075198976 |