Spatiotemporal variability of Canadian High Arctic glacier surface albedo from MODIS data, 2001–2016

Mortimer, Colleen A.; Sharp, Martin

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-701-2018

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-701-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-701-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

Research article

|

28 Feb 2018

Research article |

| 28 Feb 2018

Spatiotemporal variability of Canadian High Arctic glacier surface albedo from MODIS data, 2001–2016

Colleen A. Mortimer and Martin Sharp

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-701-2018-supplement

Data sets

MOD11A2 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature and the Emissivity 8-Day L3 Global 1 km SIN Grid Z. Wan, S. Hook, and G. Hulley https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD11A2.006

MCD43A3 MODIS/Terra +Aqua BRDF/Albedo Daily L3 Global - 500 m V006, NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAA C C. Schaaf and Z. Wang https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD43A3.006

Short summary

MODIS C6 data are used to present the first complete picture of summer surface albedo variations for all glaciated surfaces of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada (2001–2016). The 16-year history of mean summer albedo change is strongly tied to variations in the summer NAO index, except in 2006, 2010, and 2016, when changes in the mean summer BSA appear to be dominated by effects of the mean August albedo. Observed mean summer and July albedo declines may accelerate rates of QEI mass loss.