Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand
The effect of clouds on glacier surface energy balance (SEB) has received increased attention in the last decade, but how clouds interact with other meteorological forcing to influence surface mass balance (SMB) is not as well understood. This paper resolves the SEB and SMB at a site in the ablation...
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Copernicus Publications
2016
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/313/2016/tc-10-313-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/article/29a2a5cc407f43e6b5b7563f46f0316e |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:29a2a5cc407f43e6b5b7563f46f0316e 2023-05-15T18:32:21+02:00 Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand J. P. Conway N. J. Cullen 2016-02-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/313/2016/tc-10-313-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/article/29a2a5cc407f43e6b5b7563f46f0316e en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/313/2016/tc-10-313-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/article/29a2a5cc407f43e6b5b7563f46f0316e undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 313-328 (2016) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2016 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 2023-01-22T18:03:53Z The effect of clouds on glacier surface energy balance (SEB) has received increased attention in the last decade, but how clouds interact with other meteorological forcing to influence surface mass balance (SMB) is not as well understood. This paper resolves the SEB and SMB at a site in the ablation zone of Brewster Glacier over a 22-month period, using high-quality radiation data to carefully evaluate SEB terms and define clear-sky and overcast conditions. A fundamental change in glacier SEB in cloudy conditions was driven by increased effective sky emissivity and surface vapour pressure, rather than a minimal change in air temperature and wind speed. During overcast conditions, positive net long-wave radiation and latent heat fluxes allowed melt to be maintained through a much greater length of time compared to clear-sky conditions, and led to similar melt in each sky condition. The sensitivity of SMB to changes in air temperature was greatly enhanced in overcast compared to clear-sky conditions due to more frequent melt and changes in precipitation phase that created a strong albedo feedback. During the spring and autumn seasons, the sensitivity during overcast conditions was strongest. To capture these processes, future attempts to explore glacier–climate interactions should aim to resolve the effects of atmospheric moisture (vapour, cloud, and precipitation) on melt as well as accumulation, through enhanced statistical or physically based methods. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Unknown Brewster ENVELOPE(169.383,169.383,-72.950,-72.950) New Zealand The Cryosphere 10 1 313 328 |
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English |
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geo envir J. P. Conway N. J. Cullen Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
The effect of clouds on glacier surface energy balance (SEB) has received increased attention in the last decade, but how clouds interact with other meteorological forcing to influence surface mass balance (SMB) is not as well understood. This paper resolves the SEB and SMB at a site in the ablation zone of Brewster Glacier over a 22-month period, using high-quality radiation data to carefully evaluate SEB terms and define clear-sky and overcast conditions. A fundamental change in glacier SEB in cloudy conditions was driven by increased effective sky emissivity and surface vapour pressure, rather than a minimal change in air temperature and wind speed. During overcast conditions, positive net long-wave radiation and latent heat fluxes allowed melt to be maintained through a much greater length of time compared to clear-sky conditions, and led to similar melt in each sky condition. The sensitivity of SMB to changes in air temperature was greatly enhanced in overcast compared to clear-sky conditions due to more frequent melt and changes in precipitation phase that created a strong albedo feedback. During the spring and autumn seasons, the sensitivity during overcast conditions was strongest. To capture these processes, future attempts to explore glacier–climate interactions should aim to resolve the effects of atmospheric moisture (vapour, cloud, and precipitation) on melt as well as accumulation, through enhanced statistical or physically based methods. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. P. Conway N. J. Cullen |
author_facet |
J. P. Conway N. J. Cullen |
author_sort |
J. P. Conway |
title |
Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand |
title_short |
Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand |
title_full |
Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand |
title_fullStr |
Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand |
title_sort |
cloud effects on surface energy and mass balance in the ablation area of brewster glacier, new zealand |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/313/2016/tc-10-313-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/article/29a2a5cc407f43e6b5b7563f46f0316e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(169.383,169.383,-72.950,-72.950) |
geographic |
Brewster New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
Brewster New Zealand |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 313-328 (2016) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/313/2016/tc-10-313-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/article/29a2a5cc407f43e6b5b7563f46f0316e |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-313-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
313 |
op_container_end_page |
328 |
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1766216461980794880 |