Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014
Estimating the long-term mass balance of the high-Arctic Svalbard archipelago is difficult due to the incomplete geodetic and direct glaciological measurements, both in space and time. To close these gaps, we use a coupled surface energy balance and snow pack model to analyse the mass changes of all...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära
2017
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Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-319129 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 |
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ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-319129 2023-05-15T13:11:53+02:00 Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 Østby, Torbjørn Ims Schuler, Thomas Vikhamar Hagen, Jon Ove Hock, Regine Kohler, Jack Reijmer, Carleen H. 2017 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-319129 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära Univ Oslo, Inst Geosci, POB 1047 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway. Univ Alaska, Inst Geophys, Fairbanks, AK 99775 USA. Norwegian Polar Res Inst, Fram Ctr, POB 6606 Langnes, N-9296 Tromso, Norway. Univ Utrecht, Inst Marine & Atmospher Res, Princetonpl 5, NL-3584 CC Utrecht, Netherlands. COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH The Cryosphere, 1994-0416, 2017, 11:1, s. 191-215 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-319129 doi:10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 ISI:000395179900001 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Geophysics Geofysik Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2017 ftuppsalauniv https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 2023-02-23T21:52:11Z Estimating the long-term mass balance of the high-Arctic Svalbard archipelago is difficult due to the incomplete geodetic and direct glaciological measurements, both in space and time. To close these gaps, we use a coupled surface energy balance and snow pack model to analyse the mass changes of all Svalbard glaciers for the period 1957-2014. The model is forced by ERA-40 and ERA-Interim reanalysis data, downscaled to 1 km resolution. The model is validated using snow/firn temperature and density measurements, mass balance from stakes and ice cores, meteorological measurements, snow depths from radar profiles and remotely sensed surface albedo and skin temperatures. Overall model performance is good, but it varies regionally. Over the entire period the model yields a climatic mass balance of 8.2 cm w.e.yr(-1), which corresponds to a mass input of 175 Gt. Climatic mass balance has a linear trend of -1.4 +/- 0.4 cmw.e.yr(-2) with a shift from a positive to a negative regime around 1980. Modelled mass balance exhibits large interannual variability, which is controlled by summer temperatures and further amplified by the albedo feedback. For the recent period 2004-2013 climatic mass balance was 21 cmw.e.yr(-)1, and accounting for frontal ablation estimated by Blaszczyk et al. (2009) yields a total Svalbard mass balance of -39 cmw.e.yr(-1) for this 10-year period. In terms of eustatic sea level, this corresponds to a rise of 0.037 mm yr(-1). Refreezing of water in snow and firn is substantial at 22 cm w.e.yr(-1) or 26% of total annual accumulation. However, as warming leads to reduced firn area over the period, refreezing decreases both absolutely and relative to the total accumulation. Negative mass balance and elevated equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) resulted in massive reduction of the thick (> 2 m) firn extent and an increase in the superimposed ice, thin (< 2 m) firn and bare ice extents. Atmospheric warming also leads to a marked change in the thermal regime, with cooling of the glacier mid-elevation and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic glacier Svalbard The Cryosphere Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago The Cryosphere 11 1 191 215 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftuppsalauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Geophysics Geofysik |
spellingShingle |
Geophysics Geofysik Østby, Torbjørn Ims Schuler, Thomas Vikhamar Hagen, Jon Ove Hock, Regine Kohler, Jack Reijmer, Carleen H. Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 |
topic_facet |
Geophysics Geofysik |
description |
Estimating the long-term mass balance of the high-Arctic Svalbard archipelago is difficult due to the incomplete geodetic and direct glaciological measurements, both in space and time. To close these gaps, we use a coupled surface energy balance and snow pack model to analyse the mass changes of all Svalbard glaciers for the period 1957-2014. The model is forced by ERA-40 and ERA-Interim reanalysis data, downscaled to 1 km resolution. The model is validated using snow/firn temperature and density measurements, mass balance from stakes and ice cores, meteorological measurements, snow depths from radar profiles and remotely sensed surface albedo and skin temperatures. Overall model performance is good, but it varies regionally. Over the entire period the model yields a climatic mass balance of 8.2 cm w.e.yr(-1), which corresponds to a mass input of 175 Gt. Climatic mass balance has a linear trend of -1.4 +/- 0.4 cmw.e.yr(-2) with a shift from a positive to a negative regime around 1980. Modelled mass balance exhibits large interannual variability, which is controlled by summer temperatures and further amplified by the albedo feedback. For the recent period 2004-2013 climatic mass balance was 21 cmw.e.yr(-)1, and accounting for frontal ablation estimated by Blaszczyk et al. (2009) yields a total Svalbard mass balance of -39 cmw.e.yr(-1) for this 10-year period. In terms of eustatic sea level, this corresponds to a rise of 0.037 mm yr(-1). Refreezing of water in snow and firn is substantial at 22 cm w.e.yr(-1) or 26% of total annual accumulation. However, as warming leads to reduced firn area over the period, refreezing decreases both absolutely and relative to the total accumulation. Negative mass balance and elevated equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) resulted in massive reduction of the thick (> 2 m) firn extent and an increase in the superimposed ice, thin (< 2 m) firn and bare ice extents. Atmospheric warming also leads to a marked change in the thermal regime, with cooling of the glacier mid-elevation and ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Østby, Torbjørn Ims Schuler, Thomas Vikhamar Hagen, Jon Ove Hock, Regine Kohler, Jack Reijmer, Carleen H. |
author_facet |
Østby, Torbjørn Ims Schuler, Thomas Vikhamar Hagen, Jon Ove Hock, Regine Kohler, Jack Reijmer, Carleen H. |
author_sort |
Østby, Torbjørn Ims |
title |
Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 |
title_short |
Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 |
title_full |
Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 |
title_fullStr |
Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in Svalbard over 1957-2014 |
title_sort |
diagnosing the decline in climatic mass balance of glaciers in svalbard over 1957-2014 |
publisher |
Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-319129 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
genre |
albedo Arctic glacier Svalbard The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic glacier Svalbard The Cryosphere |
op_relation |
The Cryosphere, 1994-0416, 2017, 11:1, s. 191-215 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-319129 doi:10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 ISI:000395179900001 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
191 |
op_container_end_page |
215 |
_version_ |
1766249366045065216 |