| Summary: | In this research project we use satellite measurements to infer the mean specific mass balance (Bm) of glaciers. Vatnajökull, the largest ice cap in Europe, is being used as a test-case because this ice cap has often been studied. Only one aspect of Vatnajökull has not been investigated so far, and that is the relation between its mass balance and climatological conditions. We therefore also construct a mass balance model, the results of which can be compared to the satellite images. On Vatnajökull an extensive meteorological experiment took place in the summer of 1996, and the dataset collected during this experiment can be used for validation of the model. The mass balance model is calibrated with in situ measurements. We find that the incoming longwave radiation is best modeled as a function of meteorological variables in the free atmosphere just above the relatively thin katabatic layer. Also, the ratio of changes in the 2 m temperature to changes in the free atmospheric temperature (the climate sensitivity) is smaller than 1. Horizontal precipitation gradients over Vatnajökull are large, which results in a strongly varying sensitivity to external temperature changes over the ice cap. Local climatic conditions thus highly determine the mass balance and its sensitivity. From the mass balance model we construct a Seasonal Sensitivity Characteristic (SSC) of Vatnajökull, which consists of the sensitivity of Bm to monthly perturbations in temperature and precipitation. Temperature sensitivities are high in summer and nearly zero in winter, while precipitation sensitivities are high in winter and low in summer. With the SSC we reconstruct the mass balance of Vatnajökull since 1825. The results for two Icelandic glaciers correlate very well with mass balance records that are extracted from length records with a linear inverse model. For the south of Vatnajökull we find that after 1900, the length record is well explained by temperature variations alone, while another Icelandic glacier (S¢lheimajökull) was also ...
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