Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models
Since the year 2000, Greenland ice sheet mass loss has been dominated by a decrease in surface mass balance rather than an increase in solid ice discharge. Southeast Greenland is an important region to understand how high accumulation rates can offset increasing Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff....
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/409845 |
id |
ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/409845 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/409845 2023-12-03T10:23:14+01:00 Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models Montgomery, Lynn Koenig, Lora S. Lenaerts, J.T.M. Kuipers Munneke, P. Sub Dynamics Meteorology Marine and Atmospheric Research 2020 application/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/409845 en eng 0260-3055 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/409845 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess Article 2020 ftunivutrecht 2023-11-08T23:20:00Z Since the year 2000, Greenland ice sheet mass loss has been dominated by a decrease in surface mass balance rather than an increase in solid ice discharge. Southeast Greenland is an important region to understand how high accumulation rates can offset increasing Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. To that end, we derive a new 9-year long dataset (2009–17) of accumulation rates in Southeast Greenland using NASA Operation IceBridge snow radar. Our accumulation dataset derived from internal layers focuses on high elevations (1500–3000 m) because at lower elevations meltwater percolation obscured internal layer structure. The uncertainty of the radar-derived accumulation rates is 11% [using Firn Densification Model (FDM) density profiles] and the average accumulation rate ranges from 0.5 to 1.2 m w.e. With our observations spanning almost a decade, we find large inter-annual variability, but no significant trend. Accumulation rates are compared with output from two regional climate models (RCMs), MAR and RACMO2. This comparison shows that the models are underestimating accumulation in Southeast Greenland and the models misrepresent spatial heterogeneity due to an orographically forced bias in snowfall near the coast. Our dataset is useful to fill in temporal and spatial data gaps, and to evaluate RCMs where few in situ measurements are available. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Utrecht University Repository Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Utrecht University Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivutrecht |
language |
English |
description |
Since the year 2000, Greenland ice sheet mass loss has been dominated by a decrease in surface mass balance rather than an increase in solid ice discharge. Southeast Greenland is an important region to understand how high accumulation rates can offset increasing Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff. To that end, we derive a new 9-year long dataset (2009–17) of accumulation rates in Southeast Greenland using NASA Operation IceBridge snow radar. Our accumulation dataset derived from internal layers focuses on high elevations (1500–3000 m) because at lower elevations meltwater percolation obscured internal layer structure. The uncertainty of the radar-derived accumulation rates is 11% [using Firn Densification Model (FDM) density profiles] and the average accumulation rate ranges from 0.5 to 1.2 m w.e. With our observations spanning almost a decade, we find large inter-annual variability, but no significant trend. Accumulation rates are compared with output from two regional climate models (RCMs), MAR and RACMO2. This comparison shows that the models are underestimating accumulation in Southeast Greenland and the models misrepresent spatial heterogeneity due to an orographically forced bias in snowfall near the coast. Our dataset is useful to fill in temporal and spatial data gaps, and to evaluate RCMs where few in situ measurements are available. |
author2 |
Sub Dynamics Meteorology Marine and Atmospheric Research |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Montgomery, Lynn Koenig, Lora S. Lenaerts, J.T.M. Kuipers Munneke, P. |
spellingShingle |
Montgomery, Lynn Koenig, Lora S. Lenaerts, J.T.M. Kuipers Munneke, P. Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
author_facet |
Montgomery, Lynn Koenig, Lora S. Lenaerts, J.T.M. Kuipers Munneke, P. |
author_sort |
Montgomery, Lynn |
title |
Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
title_short |
Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
title_full |
Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
title_fullStr |
Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
title_full_unstemmed |
Accumulation rates (2009-2017) in Southeast Greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
title_sort |
accumulation rates (2009-2017) in southeast greenland derived from airborne snow radar and comparison with regional climate models |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/409845 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
0260-3055 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/409845 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1784271306122854400 |