Reconstruction of the Greenland Ice Sheet surface
mass balance and the spatiotemporal distribution of
freshwater runoff from Greenland to surrounding seas

Mernild, Sebastian H.; Liston, Glen E.; Beckerman, Andrew P.; Yde, Jacob C.

doi:10.5194/tc-2017-234

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The glaciological and climatic characteristics of the GrIS exhibit substantial regional variability (Auger et al, ; Langen et al, ; MacGregor et al, ; Mernild et al, ; Poinar et al, ; Van As et al, ; Wilton et al, ), and we reiterate that the recent acceleration in mass loss has been most acute in western Greenland (McMillan et al, ; Mernild et al, ). We further hypothesize based on the results of Liu and Barnes () and M16 that AR moisture transport is often directed into one of two favored pathways to the west or east of Greenland depending on interactions between the North Atlantic storm track and the GrIS topography.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 50%

Atmospheric River Impacts on Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance

2018

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Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) mass loss has accelerated since the turn of the twenty‐first century. Several recent episodes of rapid GrIS ablation coincided with intense moisture transport over Greenland by atmospheric rivers (ARs), suggesting that these events influence the evolution of GrIS surface mass balance (SMB). ARs likely provide melt energy through several physical mechanisms, and conversely, may increase SMB through enhanced snow accumulation. In this study, we compile a long‐term (1980–2016) record of moisture transport events using a conventional AR identification algorithm as well as a self‐organizing map classification applied to MERRA‐2 data. We then analyze AR effects on the GrIS using melt data from passive microwave satellite observations and regional climate model output. Results show that anomalously strong moisture transport by ARs clearly contributed to increased GrIS mass loss in recent years. AR activity over Greenland was above normal throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, and recent melting seasons with above‐average GrIS melt feature positive moisture transport anomalies over Greenland. Analysis of individual AR impacts shows a pronounced increase in GrIS surface melt after strong AR events. AR effects on SMB are more complex, as strong summer ARs cause sharp SMB losses in the ablation zone that exceed moderate SMB gains induced by ARs in the accumulation zone during summer and in all areas during other seasons. Our results demonstrate the influence of the strongest ARs in controlling GrIS SMB, and we conclude that projections of future GrIS SMB should accurately capture these rare ephemeral events.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 50%

Atmospheric River Impacts on Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance

2018

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“…SnowModel (Liston and Elder, , ) was used in this study to quantify glacier surface meteorological and hydrological processes for the glacier area sampled, including surface accumulation and ablation conditions. SnowModel is a spatially distributed meteorological, full surface energy balance, snow, and ice evolution modelling system comprised of six sub‐models (for a graphical flow‐chart description of SnowModel, see Mernild, ): MicroMet (a high‐resolution meteorological distribution model, Liston and Elder, ), Enbal (an energy surface exchange and melt model, Liston, ; Liston et al , ), SnowTran‐3D (a snow surface redistribution by wind model, Liston and Sturm, , ; Liston et al , ), SnowPack‐ML (a multilayer snowpack model, Liston and Mernild, ), HydroFlow (a gridded linear‐reservoir runoff routing model, not used in this study, Liston and Mernild, ; Mernild and Liston, ), and SnowAssim (a model available to assimilate field observed data sets, Liston and Hiemstra, ). SnowModel simulates energy and water fluxes, including incoming solar radiation, incoming longwave radiation, emitted longwave radiation, sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, conductive heat flux, albedo, surface (skin) temperature, precipitation ( P ), snow depth, snow sublimation (Su) and evaporation ( E ), snow and ice surface melt, runoff ( R ), and glacier storage change ( ΔS is also referred to as SMB or B a in the literature; symbols are only shown for the variables included in Equation 1).…”

Section: Model Description Setup and Verificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Andes Cordillera. Part III: glacier surface mass balance and contribution to sea level rise (1979–2014)

Mernild

Liston

Hiemstra

et al. 2016

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Glacier surface mass balance (SMB) observations for the Andes Cordillera are limited and therefore estimates of the SMB contribution to sea‐level rise are highly uncertain. Here (in Part 3), we simulate glacier surface meteorological and hydrological conditions and trends for the Andes Cordillera (1979/80–2013/14; 35 years), covering the tropical latitudes in the north down to the sub‐polar latitudes in the far south, including the Northern Patagonia Icefield (NPI) and Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI). Surface meteorological conditions and heat‐ and mass‐transfer processes were simulated for all glaciers having an area equal to or greater than 0.5 km2. SnowModel – a fully integrated energy balance, blowing‐snow distribution, multi‐layer snowpack, and runoff routing model – was used to simulate glacier SMBs for the Andes Cordillera. The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI; v. 4.0) and NASA Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) products, downscaled in SnowModel, allowed us to conduct relatively high‐resolution (1‐km horizontal grid; 3‐h time step) simulations of glacier air temperature, precipitation, sublimation, evaporation, runoff, and SMB. These simulated glacier SMBs were verified against both independent direct observed annual glacier SMB and satellite gravimetry and altimetry derived SMB, indicating a good agreement. For Andes glaciers, the 35‐year mean annual SMB was found to be −1.13 m water equivalent (w.e.), while the cumulative SMB was −39.6 m w.e., which is equal to a cumulative SMB contribution of 3.4 mm sea‐level equivalent (SLE) (∼0.1 mm SLE per year). However, for both NPI and SPI, the mean SMB was positive (where likely calving explains why geodetic estimates are negative). For the Andes Cordillera, the simulated mean glacier‐specific runoff was 41 L s−1 km−2, while for NPI and SPI it was 213 and 198 L s−1 km−2, respectively, indicating available water resources from NPI and SPI.

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Land cover changes across Greenland dominated by a doubling of vegetation in three decades

Grimes,

Carrivick,

Smith

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Land cover responses to climate change must be quantified for understanding Arctic climate, managing Arctic water resources, maintaining the health and livelihoods of Arctic societies and for sustainable economic development. This need is especially pressing in Greenland, where climate changes are amongst the most pronounced of anywhere in the Arctic. Ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and from glaciers and ice caps has increased since the 1980s and consequently the proglacial parts of Greenland have expanded rapidly. Here we determine proglacial land cover changes at 30 m spatial resolution across Greenland during the last three decades. Besides the vastly decreased ice cover (− 28,707 km2 ± 9767 km2), we find a doubling in total areal coverage of vegetation (111% ± 13%), a quadrupling in wetlands coverage (380% ± 29%), increased meltwater (15% ± 15%), decreased bare bedrock (− 16% ± 4%) and increased coverage of fine unconsolidated sediment (4% ± 13%). We identify that land cover change is strongly associated with the difference in the number of positive degree days, especially above 6 °C between the 1980s and the present day. Contrastingly, absolute temperature increase has a negligible association with land cover change. We explain that these land cover changes represent local rapid and intense geomorphological activity that has profound consequences for land surface albedo, greenhouse gas emissions, landscape stability and sediment delivery, and biogeochemical processes.

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Reconstruction of the Greenland Ice Sheet surface mass balance and the spatiotemporal distribution of freshwater runoff from Greenland to surrounding seas

Cited by 3 publications

References 6 publications

Atmospheric River Impacts on Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance

Atmospheric River Impacts on Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance

The Andes Cordillera. Part III: glacier surface mass balance and contribution to sea level rise (1979–2014)

Land cover changes across Greenland dominated by a doubling of vegetation in three decades

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