Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events

One consequence of recent Arctic warming is an increased occurrence and longer seasonality of above-freezing air temperature episodes. There is significant disagreement in the literature concerning potential physical connectivity between high-latitude open water duration proximate to the Greenland I...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: Ballinger, T.J., Mote, T.L., Mattingly, K., Bliss, A.C., Hanna, E., van As, D., Prieto, M., Gharehchahi, S., Fettweis, X., Noël, B., Smeets, P.C.J.P., Reijmer, C.H., Ribergaard, M.H., Cappelen, J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/343999.pdf
id ftvliz:oai:oma.vliz.be:323008
record_format openpolar
spelling ftvliz:oai:oma.vliz.be:323008 2023-05-15T15:11:06+02:00 Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events Ballinger, T.J. Mote, T.L. Mattingly, K. Bliss, A.C. Hanna, E. van As, D. Prieto, M. Gharehchahi, S. Fettweis, X. Noël, B. Smeets, P.C.J.P. Reijmer, C.H. Ribergaard, M.H. Cappelen, J. 2019 application/pdf https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/343999.pdf en eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000484057300001 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019 https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/343999.pdf info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess %3Ci%3ECryosphere+13%288%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+2241-2257.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Ftc-13-2241-2019%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Ftc-13-2241-2019%3C%2Fa%3E info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2019 ftvliz https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019 2022-05-01T11:35:11Z One consequence of recent Arctic warming is an increased occurrence and longer seasonality of above-freezing air temperature episodes. There is significant disagreement in the literature concerning potential physical connectivity between high-latitude open water duration proximate to the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and late-season (i.e., end-of-summer and autumn) GrIS melt events. Here, a new date of sea ice advance (DOA) product is used to determine the occurrence of Baffin Bay sea ice growth along Greenland's west coast for the 2011-2015 period. Over the 2-month period preceding the DOA, northwest Atlantic Ocean and atmospheric conditions are analyzed and linked to late-season melt events observed at a series of on-ice automatic weather stations (AWSs) along the K-transect in southwestern Greenland. Surrounding ice sheet, tundra, and coastal winds from the Modele Atmospherique Regional (MAR) and Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO) provide high-resolution spatial context to AWS observations and are analyzed along with ERA-Interim reanalysis fields to understand the meso-to-synoptic-scale (thermo) dynamic drivers of the melt events. Results suggest that late-season melt events, which primarily occur in the ablation area, are strongly affected by ridging atmospheric circulation patterns that transport warm, moist air from the subpolar North Atlantic toward west Greenland. Increasing concentrations of North Atlantic water vapor are shown to be necessary to produce melt conditions as autumn progresses. While thermal conduction and advection off south Baffin Bay open waters impact coastal air temperatures, local marine air incursions are obstructed by barrier flows and persistent katabatic winds along the western GrIS margin. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic Northwest Atlantic Sea ice Tundra Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Open Marine Archive (OMA) Arctic Baffin Bay Greenland The Cryosphere 13 8 2241 2257
institution Open Polar
collection Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Open Marine Archive (OMA)
op_collection_id ftvliz
language English
description One consequence of recent Arctic warming is an increased occurrence and longer seasonality of above-freezing air temperature episodes. There is significant disagreement in the literature concerning potential physical connectivity between high-latitude open water duration proximate to the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and late-season (i.e., end-of-summer and autumn) GrIS melt events. Here, a new date of sea ice advance (DOA) product is used to determine the occurrence of Baffin Bay sea ice growth along Greenland's west coast for the 2011-2015 period. Over the 2-month period preceding the DOA, northwest Atlantic Ocean and atmospheric conditions are analyzed and linked to late-season melt events observed at a series of on-ice automatic weather stations (AWSs) along the K-transect in southwestern Greenland. Surrounding ice sheet, tundra, and coastal winds from the Modele Atmospherique Regional (MAR) and Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO) provide high-resolution spatial context to AWS observations and are analyzed along with ERA-Interim reanalysis fields to understand the meso-to-synoptic-scale (thermo) dynamic drivers of the melt events. Results suggest that late-season melt events, which primarily occur in the ablation area, are strongly affected by ridging atmospheric circulation patterns that transport warm, moist air from the subpolar North Atlantic toward west Greenland. Increasing concentrations of North Atlantic water vapor are shown to be necessary to produce melt conditions as autumn progresses. While thermal conduction and advection off south Baffin Bay open waters impact coastal air temperatures, local marine air incursions are obstructed by barrier flows and persistent katabatic winds along the western GrIS margin.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Ballinger, T.J.
Mote, T.L.
Mattingly, K.
Bliss, A.C.
Hanna, E.
van As, D.
Prieto, M.
Gharehchahi, S.
Fettweis, X.
Noël, B.
Smeets, P.C.J.P.
Reijmer, C.H.
Ribergaard, M.H.
Cappelen, J.
spellingShingle Ballinger, T.J.
Mote, T.L.
Mattingly, K.
Bliss, A.C.
Hanna, E.
van As, D.
Prieto, M.
Gharehchahi, S.
Fettweis, X.
Noël, B.
Smeets, P.C.J.P.
Reijmer, C.H.
Ribergaard, M.H.
Cappelen, J.
Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events
author_facet Ballinger, T.J.
Mote, T.L.
Mattingly, K.
Bliss, A.C.
Hanna, E.
van As, D.
Prieto, M.
Gharehchahi, S.
Fettweis, X.
Noël, B.
Smeets, P.C.J.P.
Reijmer, C.H.
Ribergaard, M.H.
Cappelen, J.
author_sort Ballinger, T.J.
title Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events
title_short Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events
title_full Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events
title_fullStr Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events
title_full_unstemmed Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events
title_sort greenland ice sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of k-transect events
publishDate 2019
url https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/343999.pdf
geographic Arctic
Baffin Bay
Greenland
geographic_facet Arctic
Baffin Bay
Greenland
genre Arctic
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay
Baffin
Greenland
Ice Sheet
North Atlantic
Northwest Atlantic
Sea ice
Tundra
genre_facet Arctic
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay
Baffin
Greenland
Ice Sheet
North Atlantic
Northwest Atlantic
Sea ice
Tundra
op_source %3Ci%3ECryosphere+13%288%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+2241-2257.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Ftc-13-2241-2019%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Ftc-13-2241-2019%3C%2Fa%3E
op_relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000484057300001
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019
https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/343999.pdf
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019
container_title The Cryosphere
container_volume 13
container_issue 8
container_start_page 2241
op_container_end_page 2257
_version_ 1766342003214254080