Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen)
Snowmelt is a very important component of freshwater resources in the polar environment. Seasonal fluctuations in the water supply to glacial drainage systems influence glacier dynamics and indirectly affect water circulation and stratification in fjords. Here, we present spatial distribution of the...
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ftunivsilesia:oai:rebus.us.edu.pl:20.500.12128/12202 2023-05-15T15:01:50+02:00 Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) Uszczyk, Aleksander Grabiec, Mariusz Laska, Michał Kuhn, Michael Ignatiuk, Dariusz 2019 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/12202 https://doi.org/10.24425/ppr.2019.130901 en eng Polish Polar Research, Vol. 40, no. 4 (2019), s. 311–338 2081-8262 0138-0338 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/12202 doi:10.24425/ppr.2019.130901 Uznanie autorstwa-Użycie niekomercyjne-Bez utworów zależnych 3.0 Polska http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/pl/ CC-BY-NC-ND Arctic Svalbard snowpack snow accumulation and ablation snow water equivalent temperature index model info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2019 ftunivsilesia https://doi.org/20.500.12128/12202 https://doi.org/10.24425/ppr.2019.130901 2022-12-31T20:13:11Z Snowmelt is a very important component of freshwater resources in the polar environment. Seasonal fluctuations in the water supply to glacial drainage systems influence glacier dynamics and indirectly affect water circulation and stratification in fjords. Here, we present spatial distribution of the meltwater production from the snow cover on Hansbreen in southern Spitsbergen. We estimated the volume of freshwater coming from snow deposited over this glacier. As a case study, we used 2014 being one of the warmest season in the 21st century. The depth of snow cover was measured using a high frequency Ground Penetrating Radar close to the maximum stage of accumulation. Simultaneously, a series of studies were conducted to analyse the structure of the snowpack and its physical properties in three snow pits in different glacier elevation zones. These data were combined to construct a snow density model for the entire glacier, which together with snow depth distribution represents essential parameters to estimate glacier winter mass balance. A temperature index model was used to calculate snow ablation, applying an average temperature lapse rate and surface elevation changes. Applying variable with altitude degree day factor, we estimated an average daily rate of ablation between 0.023 m d-1 °C-1 (for the ablation zone) and 0.027 m d-1 °C-1 (in accumulation zone). This melting rate was further validated by direct ablation data at reference sites on the glacier. An average daily water production by snowmelt in 2014 ablation season was 0.0065 m w.e. (water equivalent) and 41.52·106 m3 of freshwater in total. This ablation concerned 85.5% of the total water accumulated during winter in snow cover. Extreme daily melting exceeded 0.020 m w.e. in June and September 2014 with a maximum on 6th July 2014 (0.027 m w.e.). The snow cover has completely disappeared at the end of ablation season on 75.8% of the surface of Hansbreen. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Polar Research Svalbard Spitsbergen The Repository of the University of Silesia (RE-BUŚ) Arctic Svalbard Hansbreen ENVELOPE(15.650,15.650,77.075,77.075) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Repository of the University of Silesia (RE-BUŚ) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivsilesia |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Svalbard snowpack snow accumulation and ablation snow water equivalent temperature index model |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Svalbard snowpack snow accumulation and ablation snow water equivalent temperature index model Uszczyk, Aleksander Grabiec, Mariusz Laska, Michał Kuhn, Michael Ignatiuk, Dariusz Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) |
topic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard snowpack snow accumulation and ablation snow water equivalent temperature index model |
description |
Snowmelt is a very important component of freshwater resources in the polar environment. Seasonal fluctuations in the water supply to glacial drainage systems influence glacier dynamics and indirectly affect water circulation and stratification in fjords. Here, we present spatial distribution of the meltwater production from the snow cover on Hansbreen in southern Spitsbergen. We estimated the volume of freshwater coming from snow deposited over this glacier. As a case study, we used 2014 being one of the warmest season in the 21st century. The depth of snow cover was measured using a high frequency Ground Penetrating Radar close to the maximum stage of accumulation. Simultaneously, a series of studies were conducted to analyse the structure of the snowpack and its physical properties in three snow pits in different glacier elevation zones. These data were combined to construct a snow density model for the entire glacier, which together with snow depth distribution represents essential parameters to estimate glacier winter mass balance. A temperature index model was used to calculate snow ablation, applying an average temperature lapse rate and surface elevation changes. Applying variable with altitude degree day factor, we estimated an average daily rate of ablation between 0.023 m d-1 °C-1 (for the ablation zone) and 0.027 m d-1 °C-1 (in accumulation zone). This melting rate was further validated by direct ablation data at reference sites on the glacier. An average daily water production by snowmelt in 2014 ablation season was 0.0065 m w.e. (water equivalent) and 41.52·106 m3 of freshwater in total. This ablation concerned 85.5% of the total water accumulated during winter in snow cover. Extreme daily melting exceeded 0.020 m w.e. in June and September 2014 with a maximum on 6th July 2014 (0.027 m w.e.). The snow cover has completely disappeared at the end of ablation season on 75.8% of the surface of Hansbreen. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Uszczyk, Aleksander Grabiec, Mariusz Laska, Michał Kuhn, Michael Ignatiuk, Dariusz |
author_facet |
Uszczyk, Aleksander Grabiec, Mariusz Laska, Michał Kuhn, Michael Ignatiuk, Dariusz |
author_sort |
Uszczyk, Aleksander |
title |
Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) |
title_short |
Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) |
title_full |
Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) |
title_fullStr |
Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of Arctic glacier (Hansbreen, southern Spitsbergen) |
title_sort |
importance of snow as component of surface mass balance of arctic glacier (hansbreen, southern spitsbergen) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/12202 https://doi.org/10.24425/ppr.2019.130901 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.650,15.650,77.075,77.075) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Hansbreen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Hansbreen |
genre |
Arctic glacier Polar Research Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Polar Research Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_relation |
Polish Polar Research, Vol. 40, no. 4 (2019), s. 311–338 2081-8262 0138-0338 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/12202 doi:10.24425/ppr.2019.130901 |
op_rights |
Uznanie autorstwa-Użycie niekomercyjne-Bez utworów zależnych 3.0 Polska http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/pl/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.12128/12202 https://doi.org/10.24425/ppr.2019.130901 |
_version_ |
1766333840891052032 |