Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap
Meteorological observations on and around a small, exposed plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada, were carried out in the northern summers of 1982 and 1983. The objective was to assess the effect of the ice cap on local climate as the melt season progressed. In 1982, seas...
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ftunivmassamh:oai:works.bepress.com:raymond_bradley-1127 2023-05-15T13:11:36+02:00 Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap Bradley, Raymond S Serreze, Mark C. 1987-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://works.bepress.com/raymond_bradley/64 https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=raymond_bradley unknown SelectedWorks https://works.bepress.com/raymond_bradley/64 https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=raymond_bradley Raymond S Bradley Earth Sciences text 1987 ftunivmassamh 2022-01-09T20:39:56Z Meteorological observations on and around a small, exposed plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada, were carried out in the northern summers of 1982 and 1983. The objective was to assess the effect of the ice cap on local climate as the melt season progressed. In 1982, seasonal net radiation totals were lowest on the ice cap and greatest at the site farthest from the ice cap. The ice-cap site received only 35% of net radiation totals on the surrounding tundra. This reflects a gradient in albedo; albedo changed most markedly away from the ice cap as the summer progressed. A thermal gradient was observed along a transect perpendicular to the ice-cap edge; this gradient was greatest at low levels (I5 cm) and was maximized under cloud-free conditions. The "cooling effect" of the ice cap was less at the start of the ablation season than later. Low-level inversions occurred more frequently over the ice cap than over the snow-free tundra. Overall, melting degree days on the ice cap were only 40-65% of those on the adjacent tundra. A model of interactions between the atmosphere and a snow and ice cover, or a snow-free tundra/felsenmeer surface is proposed. Observations indicate that the ice cap has a cooling effect on the lower atmosphere relative to the adjacent snow-free tundra; this effect is absent when snow cover is extensive (as in 1983). Text albedo Arctic Ellesmere Island Ice cap Tundra University of Massachusetts: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island |
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Open Polar |
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University of Massachusetts: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
op_collection_id |
ftunivmassamh |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Bradley, Raymond S Serreze, Mark C. Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences |
description |
Meteorological observations on and around a small, exposed plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada, were carried out in the northern summers of 1982 and 1983. The objective was to assess the effect of the ice cap on local climate as the melt season progressed. In 1982, seasonal net radiation totals were lowest on the ice cap and greatest at the site farthest from the ice cap. The ice-cap site received only 35% of net radiation totals on the surrounding tundra. This reflects a gradient in albedo; albedo changed most markedly away from the ice cap as the summer progressed. A thermal gradient was observed along a transect perpendicular to the ice-cap edge; this gradient was greatest at low levels (I5 cm) and was maximized under cloud-free conditions. The "cooling effect" of the ice cap was less at the start of the ablation season than later. Low-level inversions occurred more frequently over the ice cap than over the snow-free tundra. Overall, melting degree days on the ice cap were only 40-65% of those on the adjacent tundra. A model of interactions between the atmosphere and a snow and ice cover, or a snow-free tundra/felsenmeer surface is proposed. Observations indicate that the ice cap has a cooling effect on the lower atmosphere relative to the adjacent snow-free tundra; this effect is absent when snow cover is extensive (as in 1983). |
format |
Text |
author |
Bradley, Raymond S Serreze, Mark C. |
author_facet |
Bradley, Raymond S Serreze, Mark C. |
author_sort |
Bradley, Raymond S |
title |
Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap |
title_short |
Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap |
title_full |
Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap |
title_fullStr |
Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap |
title_full_unstemmed |
Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap |
title_sort |
topoclimatic studies of a high arctic plateau ice cap |
publisher |
SelectedWorks |
publishDate |
1987 |
url |
https://works.bepress.com/raymond_bradley/64 https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=raymond_bradley |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island |
genre |
albedo Arctic Ellesmere Island Ice cap Tundra |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Ellesmere Island Ice cap Tundra |
op_source |
Raymond S Bradley |
op_relation |
https://works.bepress.com/raymond_bradley/64 https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=raymond_bradley |
_version_ |
1766248138194026496 |