Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) contains enough water volume to raise global sea level by over 7 meters. It is a relic of past glacial climates that could be strongly affected by a warming world. Several studies have been performed to investigate the sensitivity of the ice sheet to changes in climate,...
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ftubpotsdam:oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-potsdam:4768 2023-07-02T03:32:25+02:00 Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future Modellierung der Reaktion des Grönländischen Inlandeises auf den vergangenen und zukünftigen Klimawandel Robinson, Alexander 2011-02-03 application/pdf https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/4768 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50430 https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/files/4768/robinson_diss.pdf eng eng https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/4768 urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50430 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50430 https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/files/4768/robinson_diss.pdf https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ddc:550 Institut für Physik und Astronomie Extern doctoralthesis doc-type:doctoralThesis 2011 ftubpotsdam 2023-06-11T22:34:58Z The Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) contains enough water volume to raise global sea level by over 7 meters. It is a relic of past glacial climates that could be strongly affected by a warming world. Several studies have been performed to investigate the sensitivity of the ice sheet to changes in climate, but large uncertainties in its long-term response still exist. In this thesis, a new approach has been developed and applied to modeling the GIS response to climate change. The advantages compared to previous approaches are (i) that it can be applied over a wide range of climatic scenarios (both in the deep past and the future), (ii) that it includes the relevant feedback processes between the climate and the ice sheet and (iii) that it is highly computationally efficient, allowing simulations over very long timescales. The new regional energy-moisture balance model (REMBO) has been developed to model the climate and surface mass balance over Greenland and it represents an improvement compared to conventional approaches in modeling present-day conditions. Furthermore, the evolution of the GIS has been simulated over the last glacial cycle using an ensemble of model versions. The model performance has been validated against field observations of the present-day climate and surface mass balance, as well as paleo information from ice cores. The GIS contribution to sea level rise during the last interglacial is estimated to be between 0.5-4.1 m, consistent with previous estimates. The ensemble of model versions has been constrained to those that are consistent with the data, and a range of valid parameter values has been defined, allowing quantification of the uncertainty and sensitivity of the modeling approach. Using the constrained model ensemble, the sensitivity of the GIS to long-term climate change was investigated. It was found that the GIS exhibits hysteresis behavior (i.e., it is multi-stable under certain conditions), and that a temperature threshold exists above which the ice sheet transitions to an ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Greenland Ice Sheet University of Potsdam: publish.UP Greenland |
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University of Potsdam: publish.UP |
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ddc:550 Institut für Physik und Astronomie Extern |
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ddc:550 Institut für Physik und Astronomie Extern Robinson, Alexander Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
topic_facet |
ddc:550 Institut für Physik und Astronomie Extern |
description |
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) contains enough water volume to raise global sea level by over 7 meters. It is a relic of past glacial climates that could be strongly affected by a warming world. Several studies have been performed to investigate the sensitivity of the ice sheet to changes in climate, but large uncertainties in its long-term response still exist. In this thesis, a new approach has been developed and applied to modeling the GIS response to climate change. The advantages compared to previous approaches are (i) that it can be applied over a wide range of climatic scenarios (both in the deep past and the future), (ii) that it includes the relevant feedback processes between the climate and the ice sheet and (iii) that it is highly computationally efficient, allowing simulations over very long timescales. The new regional energy-moisture balance model (REMBO) has been developed to model the climate and surface mass balance over Greenland and it represents an improvement compared to conventional approaches in modeling present-day conditions. Furthermore, the evolution of the GIS has been simulated over the last glacial cycle using an ensemble of model versions. The model performance has been validated against field observations of the present-day climate and surface mass balance, as well as paleo information from ice cores. The GIS contribution to sea level rise during the last interglacial is estimated to be between 0.5-4.1 m, consistent with previous estimates. The ensemble of model versions has been constrained to those that are consistent with the data, and a range of valid parameter values has been defined, allowing quantification of the uncertainty and sensitivity of the modeling approach. Using the constrained model ensemble, the sensitivity of the GIS to long-term climate change was investigated. It was found that the GIS exhibits hysteresis behavior (i.e., it is multi-stable under certain conditions), and that a temperature threshold exists above which the ice sheet transitions to an ... |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Robinson, Alexander |
author_facet |
Robinson, Alexander |
author_sort |
Robinson, Alexander |
title |
Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
title_short |
Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
title_full |
Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
title_fullStr |
Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling the Greenland Ice Sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
title_sort |
modeling the greenland ice sheet response to climate change in the past and future |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/4768 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50430 https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/files/4768/robinson_diss.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/4768 urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50430 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50430 https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/files/4768/robinson_diss.pdf |
op_rights |
https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1770271997645815808 |