The high resolution Doppler imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has provided measurements of the horizontal wind field in the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere since November 1991. This data set, which spans a period of more than 3 years, has facilitated an investigation of the long‐term behavior of the background circulation on a nearly global basis. At middle and high latitudes the zonal circulation is characterized by an annual oscillation. At low latitudes (±30°) the most prominent long‐term variation above the stratopause is the mesosphere semiannual oscillation (MSAO), which maximizes near the equator at an altitude of between 80 and 85 km. Further analysis of the time series reveals an additional strong variation, with an amplitude near 30 ms−1 and a period of about 2 years. This feature shows the same altitude and latitude structure as the MSAO and exhibits a phase relationship with the stratospheric quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO). Observations from the Christmas Island MF radar (2°N, 130°W) confirm the presence of this mesospheric QBO (MQBO). These observations support recent findings from a modeling study which generates an MQBO via the selective filtering of small‐scale gravity waves by the underlying winds they traverse.
ABSTRACT. Supraglacial ponds on debris-covered glaciers present a mechanism of atmosphere/glacier energy transfer that is poorly studied, and only conceptually included in mass-balance studies of debriscovered glaciers. This research advances previous efforts to develop a model of mass and energy balance for supraglacial ponds by applying a free-convection approach to account for energy exchanges at the subaqueous bare-ice surfaces. We develop the model using field data from a pond on Lirung ). Such melting might be expected to lead to subsidence of the glacier surface. Supraglacial ponds efficiently convey atmospheric energy to the glacier's interior and rapidly promote the downwasting process.
[1] This paper presents the results of a distributed, two-dimensional surface energy balance model used to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in the surface energy balance of Midre Lovénbreen, a small valley glacier in northwest Spitsbergen, Svalbard, over the summer of 2000. We utilize high-resolution airborne lidar data to derive a digital elevation model of the glacier and surrounding topography, on which a surface energy balance is computed, driven by meteorological data obtained from a meteorological station located on the glacier and a synoptic station maintained at the nearby Ny-Å lesund research base. Given the high-resolution topographic data, we focus particularly on whether the long duration of sunshine at high latitudes compensates for the higher solar zenith angles on the season-long energy balance and whether shading by the surrounding topography plus glacier surface slope and aspect play an increased role in the patterns of solar radiation receipt (and hence melt) over the glacier surface. The model results are validated using a combination of mass balance data from the glacier, measured surface lowering at the glacier meteorological station, and by comparing a derived energy balance component from the model with a measured energy flux. Overall, the model performance is very good. Glacier topography is found to play a fundamental role in determining the surface energy balance; topographic shading, slope, and aspect and correction of the surface albedo for high solar zenith angles are found to play a crucial role in determining spatial patterns of surface energy balance and therefore melt.
[1] The functioning of the Greenland Ice Sheet's subglacial drainage system and its effect on ice dynamics have been inferred largely from hypothetical hydrology dynamics models and from analysis of satellite data and in situ GPS measurements. Despite this, there is still uncertainty about how the surface hydrology interacts with the subglacial drainage system and affects basal water pressures and ice flow, especially over annual time scales. To address this, we developed a high spatial (100 m) and temporal (1 h) resolution, distributed, physically based, subglacial hydrological model, and applied it to the Paakitsoq region, western Greenland. The model is driven with moulin input hydrographs calculated by a surface routing and lake filling/draining model, forced ultimately with distributed hourly runoff calculated by a surface mass balance model. Key outputs from the model are spatially and temporally varying subglacial water pressures and proglacial stream hydrographs. Early in the melt season, short spikes in water pressure lasting less than a day occur as a result of lake drainage events. During midsummer, there are sustained periods of high water pressure lasting days to weeks, even at times when the subglacial system is inferred to be predominantly efficient. Later in the summer, large diurnal fluctuations in water pressure occur with peaks regularly exceeding ice overburden pressure superimposed on a gradually declining trend. These phenomena support the results of previous hypothetical modeling efforts and inferences drawn from GPS measurements.
Supraglacial lake drainage on the Greenland ice sheet opens surface-to-bed connections, reduces basal friction, and temporarily increases ice flow velocities by up to an order of magnitude. Existing field-based observations of lake drainages and their impact on ice dynamics are limited, and focus on one specific draining mechanism. Here, we report and analyse global positioning system measurements of ice velocity and elevation made at five locations surrounding two lakes that drained by different mechanisms and produced different dynamic responses. For the lake that drained slowly (>24 h) by overtopping its basin, delivering water via a channel to a pre-existing moulin, speedup and uplift were less than half those associated with a lake that drained rapidly (∼2 h) through hydrofracturing and the creation of new moulins in the lake bottom. Our results suggest that the mode and associated rate of lake drainage govern the impact on ice dynamics.
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