Brief communication: Impact of common ice mask in surface mass balance estimates over the Antarctic ice sheet

peer reviewed Regional climate models compute ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB) over a mask that defines the area covered by glacier ice, but ice masks have not been harmonised between models. Intercomparison studies of modelled SMB therefore use a common ice mask. The SMB in areas outside the co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: Hansen, Nicolaj, Simonsen, Sebastian B., Boberg, Fredrik, Kittel, Christoph, Orr, Andrew, Souverijns, Niels, Van Wessem, J. Melchior, Mottram, Ruth
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus GmbH 2022
Subjects:
Water Science and Technology
Earth-Surface Processes
Physical
chemical
mathematical & earth Sciences
Earth sciences & physical geography
Physique
chimie
mathématiques & sciences de la terre
Sciences de la terre & géographie physique
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Ice Sheet
The Cryosphere
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/302481
https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/302481/1/tc-16-711-2022.pdf
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-711-2022
Description
Summary:peer reviewed Regional climate models compute ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB) over a mask that defines the area covered by glacier ice, but ice masks have not been harmonised between models. Intercomparison studies of modelled SMB therefore use a common ice mask. The SMB in areas outside the common ice mask, which are typically coastal and high-precipitation regions, is discarded. Ice mask differences change integrated SMB by between 40.5 and 140.6gGtgyr-1 (1.8g% to 6.0g% of ensemble mean SMB), equivalent to the entire Antarctic mass imbalance. We conclude there is a pressing need for a common ice mask protocol.

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