Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes
International audience The Antarctic ice sheet mass balance is a major component of the sea level budget and results from the difference of two fluxes of a similar magnitude: ice flow discharging in the ocean and net snow accumulation on the ice sheet surface, i.e. the surface mass balance (SMB). Se...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150/document https://hal.science/hal-02367150/file/tc2019Agosta281.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 |
id |
ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-02367150v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology Agosta, Cécile Amory, Charles Kittel, Christoph Orsi, Anais Favier, Vincent Gallée, Hubert van den Broeke, Michiel Lenaerts, Jan van Wessem, Jan Melchior van de Berg, Willem Jan Fettweis, Xavier Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
topic_facet |
[SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology |
description |
International audience The Antarctic ice sheet mass balance is a major component of the sea level budget and results from the difference of two fluxes of a similar magnitude: ice flow discharging in the ocean and net snow accumulation on the ice sheet surface, i.e. the surface mass balance (SMB). Separately modelling ice dynamics and SMB is the only way to project future trends. In addition, mass balance studies frequently use regional climate models (RCMs) outputs as an alternative to observed fields because SMB observations are particularly scarce on the ice sheet. Here we evaluate new simulations of the polar RCM MAR forced by three reanal-yses, ERA-Interim, JRA-55, and MERRA-2, for the period 1979-2015, and we compare MAR results to the last outputs of the RCM RACMO2 forced by ERA-Interim. We show that MAR and RACMO2 perform similarly well in simulating coast-to-plateau SMB gradients, and we find no significant differences in their simulated SMB when integrated over the ice sheet or its major basins. More importantly, we outline and quantify missing or underestimated processes in both RCMs. Along stake transects, we show that both models accumulate too much snow on crests, and not enough snow in valleys, as a result of drifting snow transport fluxes not included in MAR and probably underestimated in RACMO2 by a factor of 3. Our results tend to confirm that drifting snow transport and sublimation fluxes are much larger than previous model-based estimates and need to be better resolved and constrained in climate models. Sublimation of precipitating particles in low-level atmospheric layers is responsible for the significantly lower snowfall rates in MAR than in RACMO2 in katabatic channels at the ice sheet margins. Atmospheric sublimation in MAR represents 363 Gt yr −1 over the grounded ice sheet for the year 2015, which is 16 % of the simulated snowfall loaded at the ground. This estimate is consistent with a recent study based on precipitation radar observations and is more than twice as much as simulated ... |
author2 |
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables (GLACCIOS) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Université de Liège Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ) Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU) Utrecht University Utrecht |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Agosta, Cécile Amory, Charles Kittel, Christoph Orsi, Anais Favier, Vincent Gallée, Hubert van den Broeke, Michiel Lenaerts, Jan van Wessem, Jan Melchior van de Berg, Willem Jan Fettweis, Xavier |
author_facet |
Agosta, Cécile Amory, Charles Kittel, Christoph Orsi, Anais Favier, Vincent Gallée, Hubert van den Broeke, Michiel Lenaerts, Jan van Wessem, Jan Melchior van de Berg, Willem Jan Fettweis, Xavier |
author_sort |
Agosta, Cécile |
title |
Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
title_short |
Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
title_full |
Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
title_fullStr |
Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
title_sort |
estimation of the antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model mar (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150/document https://hal.science/hal-02367150/file/tc2019Agosta281.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) |
geographic |
Antarctic Merra The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Merra The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
ISSN: 1994-0424 EISSN: 1994-0416 The Cryosphere https://hal.science/hal-02367150 The Cryosphere, 2019, 13 (1), pp.281-296. ⟨10.5194/tc-13-281-2019⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150/document https://hal.science/hal-02367150/file/tc2019Agosta281.pdf doi:10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
281 |
op_container_end_page |
296 |
_version_ |
1766101601162887168 |
spelling |
ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-02367150v1 2023-05-15T13:38:07+02:00 Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes Agosta, Cécile Amory, Charles Kittel, Christoph Orsi, Anais Favier, Vincent Gallée, Hubert van den Broeke, Michiel Lenaerts, Jan van Wessem, Jan Melchior van de Berg, Willem Jan Fettweis, Xavier Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables (GLACCIOS) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Université de Liège Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ) Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU) Utrecht University Utrecht 2019 https://hal.science/hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150/document https://hal.science/hal-02367150/file/tc2019Agosta281.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 en eng HAL CCSD Copernicus info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150 https://hal.science/hal-02367150/document https://hal.science/hal-02367150/file/tc2019Agosta281.pdf doi:10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1994-0424 EISSN: 1994-0416 The Cryosphere https://hal.science/hal-02367150 The Cryosphere, 2019, 13 (1), pp.281-296. ⟨10.5194/tc-13-281-2019⟩ [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2019 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-281-2019 2023-03-01T03:11:38Z International audience The Antarctic ice sheet mass balance is a major component of the sea level budget and results from the difference of two fluxes of a similar magnitude: ice flow discharging in the ocean and net snow accumulation on the ice sheet surface, i.e. the surface mass balance (SMB). Separately modelling ice dynamics and SMB is the only way to project future trends. In addition, mass balance studies frequently use regional climate models (RCMs) outputs as an alternative to observed fields because SMB observations are particularly scarce on the ice sheet. Here we evaluate new simulations of the polar RCM MAR forced by three reanal-yses, ERA-Interim, JRA-55, and MERRA-2, for the period 1979-2015, and we compare MAR results to the last outputs of the RCM RACMO2 forced by ERA-Interim. We show that MAR and RACMO2 perform similarly well in simulating coast-to-plateau SMB gradients, and we find no significant differences in their simulated SMB when integrated over the ice sheet or its major basins. More importantly, we outline and quantify missing or underestimated processes in both RCMs. Along stake transects, we show that both models accumulate too much snow on crests, and not enough snow in valleys, as a result of drifting snow transport fluxes not included in MAR and probably underestimated in RACMO2 by a factor of 3. Our results tend to confirm that drifting snow transport and sublimation fluxes are much larger than previous model-based estimates and need to be better resolved and constrained in climate models. Sublimation of precipitating particles in low-level atmospheric layers is responsible for the significantly lower snowfall rates in MAR than in RACMO2 in katabatic channels at the ice sheet margins. Atmospheric sublimation in MAR represents 363 Gt yr −1 over the grounded ice sheet for the year 2015, which is 16 % of the simulated snowfall loaded at the ground. This estimate is consistent with a recent study based on precipitation radar observations and is more than twice as much as simulated ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Antarctic Merra ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) The Antarctic The Cryosphere 13 1 281 296 |