Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo
The darkening effects of biological impurities on ice and snow have been recognised as a control on the surface energy balance of terrestrial snow, sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. With a heightened interest in understanding the impacts of a changing climate on snow and ice processes, quantifying t...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Copernicus Publications
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/2611/2017/tc-11-2611-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/081895f1a2e84badb19ad63799ff0a51 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:081895f1a2e84badb19ad63799ff0a51 2023-05-15T18:18:53+02:00 Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo J. M. Cook A. J. Hodson A. S. Gardner M. Flanner A. J. Tedstone C. Williamson T. D. L. Irvine-Fynn J. Nilsson R. Bryant M. Tranter 2017-11-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/2611/2017/tc-11-2611-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/081895f1a2e84badb19ad63799ff0a51 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/2611/2017/tc-11-2611-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/081895f1a2e84badb19ad63799ff0a51 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 11, Pp 2611-2632 (2017) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2017 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 2023-01-22T17:58:07Z The darkening effects of biological impurities on ice and snow have been recognised as a control on the surface energy balance of terrestrial snow, sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. With a heightened interest in understanding the impacts of a changing climate on snow and ice processes, quantifying the impact of biological impurities on ice and snow albedo (bioalbedo) and its evolution through time is a rapidly growing field of research. However, rigorous quantification of bioalbedo has remained elusive because of difficulties in isolating the biological contribution to ice albedo from that of inorganic impurities and the variable optical properties of the ice itself. For this reason, isolation of the biological signature in reflectance data obtained from aerial/orbital platforms has not been achieved, even when ground-based biological measurements have been available. This paper provides the cell-specific optical properties that are required to model the spectral signatures and broadband darkening of ice. Applying radiative transfer theory, these properties provide the physical basis needed to link biological and glaciological ground measurements with remotely sensed reflectance data. Using these new capabilities we confirm that biological impurities can influence ice albedo, then we identify 10 challenges to the measurement of bioalbedo in the field with the aim of improving future experimental designs to better quantify bioalbedo feedbacks. These challenges are (1) ambiguity in terminology, (2) characterising snow or ice optical properties, (3) characterising solar irradiance, (4) determining optical properties of cells, (5) measuring biomass, (6) characterising vertical distribution of cells, (7) characterising abiotic impurities, (8) surface anisotropy, (9) measuring indirect albedo feedbacks, and (10) measurement and instrument configurations. This paper aims to provide a broad audience of glaciologists and biologists with an overview of radiative transfer and albedo that could support future experimental ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice The Cryosphere Unknown The Cryosphere 11 6 2611 2632 |
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geo envir J. M. Cook A. J. Hodson A. S. Gardner M. Flanner A. J. Tedstone C. Williamson T. D. L. Irvine-Fynn J. Nilsson R. Bryant M. Tranter Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
The darkening effects of biological impurities on ice and snow have been recognised as a control on the surface energy balance of terrestrial snow, sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. With a heightened interest in understanding the impacts of a changing climate on snow and ice processes, quantifying the impact of biological impurities on ice and snow albedo (bioalbedo) and its evolution through time is a rapidly growing field of research. However, rigorous quantification of bioalbedo has remained elusive because of difficulties in isolating the biological contribution to ice albedo from that of inorganic impurities and the variable optical properties of the ice itself. For this reason, isolation of the biological signature in reflectance data obtained from aerial/orbital platforms has not been achieved, even when ground-based biological measurements have been available. This paper provides the cell-specific optical properties that are required to model the spectral signatures and broadband darkening of ice. Applying radiative transfer theory, these properties provide the physical basis needed to link biological and glaciological ground measurements with remotely sensed reflectance data. Using these new capabilities we confirm that biological impurities can influence ice albedo, then we identify 10 challenges to the measurement of bioalbedo in the field with the aim of improving future experimental designs to better quantify bioalbedo feedbacks. These challenges are (1) ambiguity in terminology, (2) characterising snow or ice optical properties, (3) characterising solar irradiance, (4) determining optical properties of cells, (5) measuring biomass, (6) characterising vertical distribution of cells, (7) characterising abiotic impurities, (8) surface anisotropy, (9) measuring indirect albedo feedbacks, and (10) measurement and instrument configurations. This paper aims to provide a broad audience of glaciologists and biologists with an overview of radiative transfer and albedo that could support future experimental ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. M. Cook A. J. Hodson A. S. Gardner M. Flanner A. J. Tedstone C. Williamson T. D. L. Irvine-Fynn J. Nilsson R. Bryant M. Tranter |
author_facet |
J. M. Cook A. J. Hodson A. S. Gardner M. Flanner A. J. Tedstone C. Williamson T. D. L. Irvine-Fynn J. Nilsson R. Bryant M. Tranter |
author_sort |
J. M. Cook |
title |
Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
title_short |
Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
title_full |
Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
title_sort |
quantifying bioalbedo: a new physically based model and discussion of empirical methods for characterising biological influence on ice and snow albedo |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/2611/2017/tc-11-2611-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/081895f1a2e84badb19ad63799ff0a51 |
genre |
Sea ice The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Sea ice The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 11, Pp 2611-2632 (2017) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/11/2611/2017/tc-11-2611-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/article/081895f1a2e84badb19ad63799ff0a51 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2611-2017 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2611 |
op_container_end_page |
2632 |
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1766195636171964416 |