Hydrological and meteorological investigations in a periglacial lake catchment near Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland – presentation of a new multi-parameter data set

Abstract

Abstract. Few hydrological studies have been conducted in Greenland, other than on glacial hydrology associated with the ice sheet. Understanding permafrost hydrology and hydroclimatic change and variability, however, provides key information for understanding climate change effects and feedbacks in the Arctic landscape. This paper presents a new, extensive, and detailed hydrological and meteorological open access data set, with high temporal resolution from a 1.56 km 2 permafrost catchment, with a lake underlain by a through-talik close to the ice sheet in the Kangerlussuaq region, western Greenland. The paper describes the hydrological site investigations and utilized equipment, as well as the data collection and processing. The investigations were performed between 2010 and 2013. The high spatial resolution, within the investigated area, of the data set makes it highly suitable for various detailed hydrological and ecological studies on catchment scale. The data set is available for all users via the PANGAEA database, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.836178.

Hypsometric amplification and routing moderation of Greenland ice sheet meltwater release

“…Therefore our model includes a precipitation parameterization in which a constant precipitation rate is assumed for snowfall (air temperature below freezing) and rainfall (above freezing) when downward long-wave radiation exceeds the blackbody emissions calculated from air temperature. This rough estimate is partly justified by the small impact precipitation has on the outcome of this study because of the arid climate that governs the lower elevations of the Kangerlussuaq catchment (Van den Johansson et al, 2015). The precipitation rate is tuned to provide optimal results in terms of winter accumulation.…”

The Importance of Eolian Input on Lake-Sediment Geochemical Composition in the Dry Proglacial Landscape of Western Greenland

“…This is most evident in the two river valleys, Sandflugtdalen and Ørkendalen, but the whole area is covered by a thick loess deposit, which has largely been stabilized by vegetation (Dijkmans and Törnqvist, 1991;Willemse et al, 2003). The eolian activity is considered to be source limited, and to be highest during the winter months when wind strengths generally are higher (Rott and Obleitner, 1992;Johansson et al, 2015aJohansson et al, , 2015b; however, in winters snow might also decrease the availability of erodible material (Bullard and Austin, 2011).…”

“…Hydrological modeling for the past 37 years shows that there is an outflow from the lake in about 70% of the years, that between-year variation in lake water level is 0.7 m, while within-year variation in lake water level is less than 0.25 cm (Johansson et al, 2015b). The predominant wind direction is from the southeast, and the strongest winds occur during winter (Johansson et al, 2015a).…”

“…The region has a continental climate (Low Arctic to subarctic) due to stable high-pressure cells over the ice sheet, and the predominant wind direction for the area is from east to southeast (Rott and Obleitner, 1992;van den Broeke et al, 1994;van den Broeke and Gallee, 1996). Mean annual temperature for the area is -5.1 °C, ranging from -9.1 to -0.3 °C (1977-2011Cappelen, 2012), and mean annual precipitation is 173 mm yr -1 , of which ~40% falls as snow (data corrected for wind and adhesion losses) (Johansson et al, 2015a(Johansson et al, , 2015b.…”

“…1) to assess how the potential influence of eolian material on the sediment geochemistry varies depending on distance from the ice sheet. Two-Boat Lake is currently the main focus of an extensive drainage basin-scale ecosystem study (Clarhäll, 2011;Johansson et al, 2015a;Johansson et al, 2015b), and both the geochemical record in general, and the eolian record in particular, will be vital information to place the present-day conditions into a longer time perspective and when creating scenarios for future landscape development (Lindborg et al, 2013).…”