Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison
peer reviewed Runoff has recently become the main source of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and is an important contributor to global sea level rise. Linking runoff to surface meltwater production is complex, as meltwater can be retained within the firn by refreezing or perennial liquid water...
Published in: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301900 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301900/1/Steger_Frontiers_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00003 |
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/301900 2024-04-21T08:03:24+00:00 Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison Steger, Christian R. Reijmer, Carleen H. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Wever, Nander Forster, Richard R. Koenig, Lora S. Munneke, Peter Kuipers Lehning, Michael Lhermitte, Stef Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M. Miège, Clément Noël, Brice 2017-01-27 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301900 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301900/1/Steger_Frontiers_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00003 en eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00003/full urn:issn:2296-6463 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301900 info:hdl:2268/301900 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301900/1/Steger_Frontiers_2017.pdf doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00003 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85011818197 open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Frontiers in Earth Science, 5 (2017-01-27) Firn aquifer Firn modeling Ice layer Meltwater retention Refreezing on greenland Climatic conditions Global sea level rise Greenland Ice layers Surface meltwater production Surface water flows Vertical resolution Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences 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 2017 ftorbi https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00003 2024-03-27T14:57:53Z peer reviewed Runoff has recently become the main source of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and is an important contributor to global sea level rise. Linking runoff to surface meltwater production is complex, as meltwater can be retained within the firn by refreezing or perennial liquid water storage. To constrain these uncertainties, the outputs of two offline snow/firn models of different complexity (IMAU-FDM and SNOWPACK) are compared to assess the sensitivity of meltwater retention to the model formulation (e.g., densification, irreducible water content, vertical resolution). Results indicate that model differences are largest in areas where firn aquifers form, i.e., particularly along the south-eastern margin of the ice sheet. The IMAU-FDM simulates higher densification rates for such climatic conditions and prescribes a lower irreducible water content than SNOWPACK. As a result, the model predicts substantially lower amounts of refreezing and liquid water storage. SNOWPACK performs better for this area, confirmed both by density profiles from firn cores and radar-inferred observations. Refreezing integrated over the entire ice sheet and averaged for the period 1960-2014 amounts to 216 Gt a-1 (IMAU-FDM) and 242 Gt a-1 (SNOWPACK), which is 41 and 46% of the total liquid water input (snowmelt and rainfall). The mean areal extents of perennial firn aquifers for 2010-2014 simulated by the models are 55,700 km2 (IMAU-FDM) and 90,200 km2 (SNOWPACK). Discrepancies between modeled firn profiles and observations emphasize the importance of processes currently not accounted for in most snow/firn models, such as vertical heterogeneous percolation, ponding of water on impermeable layers, lateral (sub-)surface water flow, and the issue of ill-constrained refreezing conditions at the base of firn aquifers. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) Frontiers in Earth Science 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Firn aquifer Firn modeling Ice layer Meltwater retention Refreezing on greenland Climatic conditions Global sea level rise Greenland Ice layers Surface meltwater production Surface water flows Vertical resolution Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique |
spellingShingle |
Firn aquifer Firn modeling Ice layer Meltwater retention Refreezing on greenland Climatic conditions Global sea level rise Greenland Ice layers Surface meltwater production Surface water flows Vertical resolution Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences Physical chemical mathematical & earth Sciences Earth sciences & physical geography Physique chimie mathématiques & sciences de la terre Sciences de la terre & géographie physique Steger, Christian R. Reijmer, Carleen H. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Wever, Nander Forster, Richard R. Koenig, Lora S. Munneke, Peter Kuipers Lehning, Michael Lhermitte, Stef Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M. Miège, Clément Noël, Brice Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison |
topic_facet |
Firn aquifer Firn modeling Ice layer Meltwater retention Refreezing on greenland Climatic conditions Global sea level rise Greenland Ice layers Surface meltwater production Surface water flows Vertical resolution Earth and Planetary Sciences (all) General Earth and Planetary Sciences 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 Runoff has recently become the main source of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and is an important contributor to global sea level rise. Linking runoff to surface meltwater production is complex, as meltwater can be retained within the firn by refreezing or perennial liquid water storage. To constrain these uncertainties, the outputs of two offline snow/firn models of different complexity (IMAU-FDM and SNOWPACK) are compared to assess the sensitivity of meltwater retention to the model formulation (e.g., densification, irreducible water content, vertical resolution). Results indicate that model differences are largest in areas where firn aquifers form, i.e., particularly along the south-eastern margin of the ice sheet. The IMAU-FDM simulates higher densification rates for such climatic conditions and prescribes a lower irreducible water content than SNOWPACK. As a result, the model predicts substantially lower amounts of refreezing and liquid water storage. SNOWPACK performs better for this area, confirmed both by density profiles from firn cores and radar-inferred observations. Refreezing integrated over the entire ice sheet and averaged for the period 1960-2014 amounts to 216 Gt a-1 (IMAU-FDM) and 242 Gt a-1 (SNOWPACK), which is 41 and 46% of the total liquid water input (snowmelt and rainfall). The mean areal extents of perennial firn aquifers for 2010-2014 simulated by the models are 55,700 km2 (IMAU-FDM) and 90,200 km2 (SNOWPACK). Discrepancies between modeled firn profiles and observations emphasize the importance of processes currently not accounted for in most snow/firn models, such as vertical heterogeneous percolation, ponding of water on impermeable layers, lateral (sub-)surface water flow, and the issue of ill-constrained refreezing conditions at the base of firn aquifers. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steger, Christian R. Reijmer, Carleen H. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Wever, Nander Forster, Richard R. Koenig, Lora S. Munneke, Peter Kuipers Lehning, Michael Lhermitte, Stef Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M. Miège, Clément Noël, Brice |
author_facet |
Steger, Christian R. Reijmer, Carleen H. van den Broeke, Michiel R. Wever, Nander Forster, Richard R. Koenig, Lora S. Munneke, Peter Kuipers Lehning, Michael Lhermitte, Stef Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M. Miège, Clément Noël, Brice |
author_sort |
Steger, Christian R. |
title |
Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison |
title_short |
Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison |
title_full |
Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison |
title_fullStr |
Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison |
title_full_unstemmed |
Firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: A model comparison |
title_sort |
firn meltwater retention on the greenland ice sheet: a model comparison |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301900 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301900/1/Steger_Frontiers_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00003 |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, 5 (2017-01-27) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2017.00003/full urn:issn:2296-6463 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301900 info:hdl:2268/301900 https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301900/1/Steger_Frontiers_2017.pdf doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00003 scopus-id:2-s2.0-85011818197 |
op_rights |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00003 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
5 |
_version_ |
1796943264664780800 |