| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- van As, Dirk, et al.
(författare)
-
Darkening of the Greenland ice sheet due to the melt-albedo feedback observed at PROMICE weather stations
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin. - 1811-4598 .- 1604-8156. ; 28, s. 69-72
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Greenland ice sheet is losing mass (Barletta et al. 2012) and at least half of this loss is caused by an increase in surface melt (e.g. Tedesco et al. 2013). The other part is caused by increased dynamic mass loss, as marine-terminating glaciers lose resistive stresses (Nick et al. 2009) due to both retreat and meltwater lubrication at the bed (Sasgen et al. 2012).In 2007, the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) was initiated with the aim of gaining an insight into the causes of the ice-mass budget changes based on quantitative observations. This is primarily done by assessing how much mass is gained as snow accumulation on the surface versus how much is lost by calving and surface ablation (Ahlstrøm et al. 2008). PROMICE monitors the surface mass balance by means of automatic weather stations (AWSs) designed to quantify accumulation and ablation, as well as the specific energy sources contributing to ablation. These observations are vital to interpreting the physical mechanisms for ice-sheet response to climate change and for the calibration and validation of both satellite observations and climate models.In the wake of several record-breaking warm summers – increasing surface melt rate and extent (Nghiem et al. 2012) – interest in Greenland’s surface mass balance has increased (Tedesco et al. 2013). Observations of net ablation at PROMICE stations provided in situ confirmation of extreme massloss events in 2010 (Fausto et al. 2012) and 2012, primarily documented by other workers through satellite data. In this paper, we present atmospheric temperatures and surface solar reflectivity (known as albedo) of the Greenland ice sheet in the PROMICE period. Albedo modulates the absorption of solar radiation, which is the primary source of melt energy. It is reported to be decreasing in Greenland in recent years (Box et al. 2012), causing the monitoring of albedo variability to be increasingly important. Air temperatures, besides being strongly correlated to surface melt rates, affect surface albedo by controlling the rate of snow-grain metamorphism and the fraction of summer precipitation falling as rain versus snow. To elucidate the so-called melt-albedo feedback, whereby increased melt darkens the ice sheet and further enhances melt, the relationship between albedo and air temperature, observed at PROMICE stations, is examined in this study.
|
|
| 4. |
- van As, Dirk, et al.
(författare)
-
Katabatic winds and piteraq storms : observations from the Greenland ice sheet
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin. - 1811-4598 .- 1604-8156. ; 31, s. 83-86
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2007 the Programme for Monitoring the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) was initiated to observe and gain insight into the mass budget of Greenland ice masses. By means of in situ observations and remote sensing, PROMICE assesses how much mass is gained as snow accumulation on the surface versus how much is lost by iceberg calving and surface ablation (Ahlstrøm et al. 2008). A key element of PROMICE is a network of automatic weather stations (AWSs) designed to quantify components of the surface mass balance, including the energy exchanges contributing to surface ablation (Van As et al. 2013).The use of these AWS observations is not limited to studies of ice-sheet mass balance. PROMICE contributes to CryoNet (www.globalcryospherewatch.org/cryonet), the core network of surface measurement sites of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Cryosphere Watch. By real-time delivery through WMO, PROMICE observations contribute to improve both operational forecasting and climate analysis in the data-sparse Arctic. The Greenlandic population, highly dependent on accurate forecasting of weather conditions, benefits directly from these real-time observations. For instance, extreme surface wind speeds are a high-risk element in Greenland. The third-highest wind speed observed at the surface of the Earth (93 m/s or 333 km/h), was recorded in a 8–9 March 1972 storm at Thule in North-West Greenland (Stansfield 1972).In this paper, we discuss the extent to which the Greenland ice sheet generates its own near-surface wind field. We use PROMICE data to gain insight into the interaction between air temperature, radiation and gravity-driven katabatic winds. We focus on a particularly powerful spring storm in 2013 that contributed to a fatality on an ice-sheet ski traverse attempt (Linden 2013).
|
|
