Brief communication: An ice surface melt scheme including the diurnal cycle of solar radiation
We propose a surface melt scheme for glaciated land surfaces, which only requires monthly mean short-wave radiation and temperature as inputs, yet implicitly accounts for the diurnal cycle of short-wave radiation. The scheme is deduced from the energy balance of a daily melt period, which is defined...
| Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3923-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/3923/2018/tc-12-3923-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/210752c504f44da7ab6c780b0c9a982e |
| Summary: | We propose a surface melt scheme for glaciated land surfaces, which only requires monthly mean short-wave radiation and temperature as inputs, yet implicitly accounts for the diurnal cycle of short-wave radiation. The scheme is deduced from the energy balance of a daily melt period, which is defined by a minimum solar elevation angle. The scheme yields a better spatial representation of melting than common empirical schemes when applied to the Greenland Ice Sheet, using a 1948–2016 regional climate and snowpack simulation as a reference. The scheme is physically constrained and can be adapted to other regions or time periods. |
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