Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008
This study provides insights into surface mass-balance (SMB) and runoff exiting the Watson River drainage basin, Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland during a 30 year period (1978/1979–2007/2008) when the climate experienced increasing temperatures and precipitation. The 30-year simulations quantify the te...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2010
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/4/231/2010/tc-4-231-2010.pdf https://doaj.org/article/ef1d31e006bf4a82a48794377383a921 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:ef1d31e006bf4a82a48794377383a921 2023-05-15T16:27:23+02:00 Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 S. H. Mernild G. E. Liston K. Steffen M. van den Broeke B. Hasholt 2010-06-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/4/231/2010/tc-4-231-2010.pdf https://doaj.org/article/ef1d31e006bf4a82a48794377383a921 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 1994-0416 1994-0424 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/4/231/2010/tc-4-231-2010.pdf https://doaj.org/article/ef1d31e006bf4a82a48794377383a921 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 4, Iss 2, Pp 231-242 (2010) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2010 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 2023-01-22T17:52:59Z This study provides insights into surface mass-balance (SMB) and runoff exiting the Watson River drainage basin, Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland during a 30 year period (1978/1979–2007/2008) when the climate experienced increasing temperatures and precipitation. The 30-year simulations quantify the terrestrial freshwater output from part of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and the land between the GrIS and the ocean, in the context of global warming and increasing GrIS surface melt. We used a snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel) to simulate the winter accumulation and summer ablation processes, including runoff and SMB, of the ice sheet: indicating that the simulated equilibrium line altitude (ELA) was in accordance with independent observations. To a large extent, the SMB fluctuations could be explained by changes in net precipitation (precipitation minus evaporation and sublimation), with 8 out of 30 years having negative SMB, mainly because of relatively low annual net precipitation. The overall trend in net precipitation and runoff increased significantly, while SMB increased insignificantly throughout the simulation period, leading to enhanced precipitation of 0.59 km3 w.eq. (or ~60%), runoff of 0.43 km3 w.eq. (or ~55%), and SMB of 0.16 km3 w.eq. (or ~85%). Runoff rose on average from 0.80 km3 w.eq. in 1978/1979 to 1.23 km3 w.eq. in 2007/2008. The GrIS satellite-derived melt-extent increased significantly, and the melting intensification occurred simultaneously with the increase in local Kangerlussuaq runoff, indicating that satellite data can be used as a proxy (r2=0.64) for runoff from the Kangerlussuaq drainage area. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Kangerlussuaq Søndre strømfjord The Cryosphere Unknown Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Greenland Kangerlussuaq ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) The Cryosphere 4 2 231 242 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
envir geo |
spellingShingle |
envir geo S. H. Mernild G. E. Liston K. Steffen M. van den Broeke B. Hasholt Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
This study provides insights into surface mass-balance (SMB) and runoff exiting the Watson River drainage basin, Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland during a 30 year period (1978/1979–2007/2008) when the climate experienced increasing temperatures and precipitation. The 30-year simulations quantify the terrestrial freshwater output from part of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and the land between the GrIS and the ocean, in the context of global warming and increasing GrIS surface melt. We used a snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel) to simulate the winter accumulation and summer ablation processes, including runoff and SMB, of the ice sheet: indicating that the simulated equilibrium line altitude (ELA) was in accordance with independent observations. To a large extent, the SMB fluctuations could be explained by changes in net precipitation (precipitation minus evaporation and sublimation), with 8 out of 30 years having negative SMB, mainly because of relatively low annual net precipitation. The overall trend in net precipitation and runoff increased significantly, while SMB increased insignificantly throughout the simulation period, leading to enhanced precipitation of 0.59 km3 w.eq. (or ~60%), runoff of 0.43 km3 w.eq. (or ~55%), and SMB of 0.16 km3 w.eq. (or ~85%). Runoff rose on average from 0.80 km3 w.eq. in 1978/1979 to 1.23 km3 w.eq. in 2007/2008. The GrIS satellite-derived melt-extent increased significantly, and the melting intensification occurred simultaneously with the increase in local Kangerlussuaq runoff, indicating that satellite data can be used as a proxy (r2=0.64) for runoff from the Kangerlussuaq drainage area. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. H. Mernild G. E. Liston K. Steffen M. van den Broeke B. Hasholt |
author_facet |
S. H. Mernild G. E. Liston K. Steffen M. van den Broeke B. Hasholt |
author_sort |
S. H. Mernild |
title |
Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
title_short |
Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
title_full |
Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
title_fullStr |
Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Runoff and mass-balance simulations from the Greenland Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
title_sort |
runoff and mass-balance simulations from the greenland ice sheet at kangerlussuaq (søndre strømfjord) in a 30-year perspective, 1979–2008 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/4/231/2010/tc-4-231-2010.pdf https://doaj.org/article/ef1d31e006bf4a82a48794377383a921 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) |
geographic |
Ela Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
geographic_facet |
Ela Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet Kangerlussuaq Søndre strømfjord The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet Kangerlussuaq Søndre strømfjord The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 4, Iss 2, Pp 231-242 (2010) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 1994-0416 1994-0424 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/4/231/2010/tc-4-231-2010.pdf https://doaj.org/article/ef1d31e006bf4a82a48794377383a921 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-231-2010 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
231 |
op_container_end_page |
242 |
_version_ |
1766016539013677056 |