Surface energy balance in the ablation zone of Midtdalsbreen, a glacier in southern Norway: Interannual variability and the effect of clouds

Giesen, Rianne H.; Broeke, M. R. van den; Oerlemans, J.; Andreassen, Liss M.

doi:10.1029/2008jd010390

Cited by 73 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…5; e.g. Giesen et al, 2008;Gillet and Cullen, 2011). However, they are within the range of rates and ratios recorded in arid high-altitude or polar environments (e.g.…”

Section: Comparison Of Ablation Results With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Meteorological drivers of ablation processes on a cold glacier in the semi-arid Andes of Chile

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Meteorological and surface change measurements collected during a 2.5 yr period are used to calculate surface mass and energy balances at 5324 m a.s.l. on Guanaco Glacier, a cold-based glacier in the semi-arid Andes of Chile. Meteorological conditions are marked by extremely low vapour pressures (annual mean of 1.1 hPa), strong winds (annual mean of 10 m s −1 ), shortwave radiation receipt persistently close to the theoretical site maximum during cloudfree days (mean annual 295 W m −2 ; summer hourly maximum 1354 W m −2 ) and low precipitation rates (mean annual 45 mm w.e.). Snowfall occurs sporadically throughout the year and is related to frontal events in the winter and convective storms during the summer months. Net shortwave radiation provides the greatest source of energy to the glacier surface, and net longwave radiation dominates energy losses. The turbulent latent heat flux is always negative, which means that the surface is always losing mass via sublimation, which is the main form of ablation at the site. Sublimation rates are most strongly correlated with net shortwave radiation, incoming shortwave radiation, albedo and vapour pressure. Low glacier surface temperatures restrict melting for much of the period, however episodic melting occurs during the austral summer, when warm, humid, calm and high pressure conditions restrict sublimation and make more energy available for melting. Low accumulation (131 mm w.e. over the period) and relatively high ablation (1435 mm w.e.) means that mass change over the period was negative (−1304 mm w.e.), which continued the negative trend recorded in the region over the last few decades.

show abstract

“…5; e.g. Giesen et al, 2008;Gillet and Cullen, 2011). However, they are within the range of rates and ratios recorded in arid high-altitude or polar environments (e.g.…”

Section: Comparison Of Ablation Results With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Giesen et al, 2008;Gillet and Cullen, 2011). Energy balance modelling on the cold-based glaciers of the semi-arid Andes therefore requires correct treatment of sublimation and subsurface heat flux in order to correctly partition ablation into melting (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorological drivers of ablation processes on a cold glacier in the semi-arid Andes of Chile

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With the goal of calculating the different components of the SEB, we use the SEB model described in detail by Van den Broeke et al (2005) (for applications see Kuipers Munneke et al, 2009;van As et al, 2005;Giesen et al, 2008 andVan den Broeke et al, 2011). Here, we only provide a very short description of the model's main steps and assumptions.…”

Section: Seb Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface and snowdrift sublimation at Princess Elisabeth station, East Antarctica

et al. 2012

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. In the near-coastal regions of Antarctica, a significant fraction of the snow precipitating onto the surface is removed again through sublimation -either directly from the surface or from drifting snow particles. Meteorological observations from an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) near the Belgian research station Princess Elisabeth in Dronning Maud Land, East-Antarctica, are used to study surface and snowdrift sublimation and to assess their impacts on both the surface mass balance and the surface energy balance during 2009 and 2010. Comparison to three other AWSs in Dronning Maud Land with 11 to 13 yr of observations shows that sublimation has a significant influence on the surface mass balance at katabatic locations by removing 10-23 % of their total precipitation, but at the same time reveals anomalously low surface and snowdrift sublimation rates at Princess Elisabeth (17 mm w.e. yr −1 compared to 42 mm w.e. yr −1 at Svea Cross and 52 mm w.e. yr −1 at Wasa/Aboa). This anomaly is attributed to local topography, which shields the station from strong katabatic influence, and, therefore, on the one hand allows for a strong surface inversion to persist throughout most of the year and on the other hand causes a lower probability of occurrence of intermediately strong winds. This wind speed class turns out to contribute most to the total snowdrift sublimation mass flux, given its ability to lift a high number of particles while still allowing for considerable undersaturation.

show abstract

“…1 and 2). This approach was subsequently adapted by others Giesen et al, 2008). α d is calculated as the ratio between the sums of the instant (measured) outgoing flux, S r , and the measured incoming solar radiation flux, S i , with the timing of measurement as midpoint.…”

Section: Correction Of Short-wave Radiation and Albedomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Andreasssen et al, 2008;Giesen et al, 2008;Hulth et al, 2010). In this paper we present an AWS record extending over four melt seasons and its associated SEB from a region scarcely represented in the literature, namely the Hurd Peninsula on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, an archipelago parallel to the northwestern extreme of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of a distributed temperature-radiation index melt model based on AWS observations and surface energy balance fluxes, Hurd Peninsula glaciers, Livingston Island, Antarctica

Jonsell

Navarro²,

Bañón

et al. 2012

The Cryosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We use an automatic weather station and surface mass balance dataset spanning four melt seasons collected on Hurd Peninsula Glaciers, South Shetland Islands, to investigate the point surface energy balance, to determine the absolute and relative contribution of the various energy fluxes acting on the glacier surface and to estimate the sensitivity of melt to ambient temperature changes. Long-wave incoming radiation is the main energy source for melt, while short-wave radiation is the most important flux controlling the variation of both seasonal and daily mean surface energy balance. Short-wave and long-wave radiation fluxes do, in general, balance each other, resulting in a high correspondence between daily mean net radiation flux and available melt energy flux. We calibrate a distributed melt model driven by air temperature and an expression for the incoming short-wave radiation. The model is calibrated with the data from one of the melt seasons and validated with the data of the three remaining seasons. The model results deviate at most 140 mm w.e. from the corresponding observations using the glaciological method. The model is very sensitive to changes in ambient temperature: a 0.5 • C increase results in 56 % higher melt rates.

show abstract

Surface energy balance in the ablation zone of Midtdalsbreen, a glacier in southern Norway: Interannual variability and the effect of clouds

Cited by 73 publications

References 38 publications

Meteorological drivers of ablation processes on a cold glacier in the semi-arid Andes of Chile

Meteorological drivers of ablation processes on a cold glacier in the semi-arid Andes of Chile

Surface and snowdrift sublimation at Princess Elisabeth station, East Antarctica

Sensitivity of a distributed temperature-radiation index melt model based on AWS observations and surface energy balance fluxes, Hurd Peninsula glaciers, Livingston Island, Antarctica

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About