Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements
The potential of capillary forces to retain water in pores is an important property of snow and firn at glaciers. Meltwater suspended in pores does not contribute to runoff and may refreeze during winter, which can affect the climatic mass balance and the subsurface density and temperature. However,...
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ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/417482 2023-07-23T04:19:24+02:00 Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements Marchenko, Sergey A. Van Pelt, Ward J.J. Pettersson, Rickard Pohjola, Veijo A. Reijmer, Carleen H. Sub Dynamics Meteorology Marine and Atmospheric Research 2021-10-06 application/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/417482 en eng 0022-1430 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/417482 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess glacier hydrology glacier mass balance glacier modelling glaciological instruments and methods polar firn Earth-Surface Processes Article 2021 ftunivutrecht 2023-07-02T03:34:43Z The potential of capillary forces to retain water in pores is an important property of snow and firn at glaciers. Meltwater suspended in pores does not contribute to runoff and may refreeze during winter, which can affect the climatic mass balance and the subsurface density and temperature. However, measurement of firn water content is challenging and few values have been reported in the literature. Here, we use subsurface temperature and density measured at the accumulation zone of Lomonosovfonna (1200 m a.s.l.), Svalbard, to derive water content of the firn profiles after the 2014 and 2015 melt seasons. We do this by comparing measured and simulated rates of freezing front propagation. The calculated volumetric water content of firn is ∼1.0-2.5 vol.% above the depth of 5 m and <0.5 vol.% below. Results derived using different thermistor strings suggest a prominent lateral variability in firn water content. Reported values are considerably lower than those commonly used in snow/firn models. This is interpreted as a result of preferential water flow in firn leaving dry volumes within wetted firn. This suggests that the implementation of irreducible water content values below 0.5 vol.% within snow/firn models should be considered at the initial phase of water infiltration. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Svalbard Utrecht University Repository Lomonosovfonna ENVELOPE(17.663,17.663,78.774,78.774) Svalbard |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Utrecht University Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivutrecht |
language |
English |
topic |
glacier hydrology glacier mass balance glacier modelling glaciological instruments and methods polar firn Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
glacier hydrology glacier mass balance glacier modelling glaciological instruments and methods polar firn Earth-Surface Processes Marchenko, Sergey A. Van Pelt, Ward J.J. Pettersson, Rickard Pohjola, Veijo A. Reijmer, Carleen H. Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
topic_facet |
glacier hydrology glacier mass balance glacier modelling glaciological instruments and methods polar firn Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
The potential of capillary forces to retain water in pores is an important property of snow and firn at glaciers. Meltwater suspended in pores does not contribute to runoff and may refreeze during winter, which can affect the climatic mass balance and the subsurface density and temperature. However, measurement of firn water content is challenging and few values have been reported in the literature. Here, we use subsurface temperature and density measured at the accumulation zone of Lomonosovfonna (1200 m a.s.l.), Svalbard, to derive water content of the firn profiles after the 2014 and 2015 melt seasons. We do this by comparing measured and simulated rates of freezing front propagation. The calculated volumetric water content of firn is ∼1.0-2.5 vol.% above the depth of 5 m and <0.5 vol.% below. Results derived using different thermistor strings suggest a prominent lateral variability in firn water content. Reported values are considerably lower than those commonly used in snow/firn models. This is interpreted as a result of preferential water flow in firn leaving dry volumes within wetted firn. This suggests that the implementation of irreducible water content values below 0.5 vol.% within snow/firn models should be considered at the initial phase of water infiltration. |
author2 |
Sub Dynamics Meteorology Marine and Atmospheric Research |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marchenko, Sergey A. Van Pelt, Ward J.J. Pettersson, Rickard Pohjola, Veijo A. Reijmer, Carleen H. |
author_facet |
Marchenko, Sergey A. Van Pelt, Ward J.J. Pettersson, Rickard Pohjola, Veijo A. Reijmer, Carleen H. |
author_sort |
Marchenko, Sergey A. |
title |
Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
title_short |
Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
title_full |
Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
title_fullStr |
Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
title_full_unstemmed |
Water content of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
title_sort |
water content of firn at lomonosovfonna, svalbard, derived from subsurface temperature measurements |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/417482 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(17.663,17.663,78.774,78.774) |
geographic |
Lomonosovfonna Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Lomonosovfonna Svalbard |
genre |
glacier Svalbard |
genre_facet |
glacier Svalbard |
op_relation |
0022-1430 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/417482 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1772182422252683264 |