Articles | Volume 13, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2259-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2259-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Sep 2019
Research article |
| 03 Sep 2019
| 03 Sep 2019
A long-term dataset of climatic mass balance, snow conditions, and runoff in Svalbard (1957–2018)
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Veijo Pohjola
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Rickard Pettersson
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Sergey Marchenko
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Jack Kohler
Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway
Bartłomiej Luks
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Jon Ove Hagen
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Thomas V. Schuler
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Department of Arctic Geophysics, University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
Thorben Dunse
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Department of Environmental Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Sogndal, Norway
Brice Noël
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Carleen Reijmer
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Related authors
Thomas Frank, Ward J. J. van Pelt, and Jack Kohler
The Cryosphere, 17, 4021–4045, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4021-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4021-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Since the ice thickness of most glaciers worldwide is unknown, and since it is not feasible to visit every glacier and observe their thickness directly, inverse modelling techniques are needed that can calculate ice thickness from abundant surface observations. Here, we present a new method for doing that. Our methodology relies on modelling the rate of surface elevation change for a given glacier, compare this with observations of the same quantity and change the bed until the two are in line.
Marlene Kronenberg, Ward van Pelt, Horst Machguth, Joel Fiddes, Martin Hoelzle, and Felix Pertziger
The Cryosphere, 16, 5001–5022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5001-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5001-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Pamir Alay is located at the edge of regions with anomalous glacier mass changes. Unique long-term in situ data are available for Abramov Glacier, located in the Pamir Alay. In this study, we use this extraordinary data set in combination with reanalysis data and a coupled surface energy balance–multilayer subsurface model to compute and analyse the distributed climatic mass balance and firn evolution from 1968 to 2020.
Enrico Mattea, Horst Machguth, Marlene Kronenberg, Ward van Pelt, Manuela Bassi, and Martin Hoelzle
The Cryosphere, 15, 3181–3205, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3181-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3181-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In our study we find that climate change is affecting the high-alpine Colle Gnifetti glacier (Swiss–Italian Alps) with an increase in melt amounts and ice temperatures.
In the near future this trend could threaten the viability of the oldest ice core record in the Alps.
To reach our conclusions, for the first time we used the meteorological data of the highest permanent weather station in Europe (Capanna Margherita, 4560 m), together with an advanced numeric simulation of the glacier.
Christian Zdanowicz, Jean-Charles Gallet, Mats P. Björkman, Catherine Larose, Thomas Schuler, Bartłomiej Luks, Krystyna Koziol, Andrea Spolaor, Elena Barbaro, Tõnu Martma, Ward van Pelt, Ulla Wideqvist, and Johan Ström
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3035–3057, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3035-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3035-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) aerosols are soot-like particles which, when transported to the Arctic, darken snow surfaces, thus indirectly affecting climate. Information on BC in Arctic snow is needed to measure their impact and monitor the efficacy of pollution-reduction policies. This paper presents a large new set of BC measurements in snow in Svalbard collected between 2007 and 2018. It describes how BC in snow varies across the archipelago and explores some factors controlling these variations.
Baptiste Vandecrux, Ruth Mottram, Peter L. Langen, Robert S. Fausto, Martin Olesen, C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Amber Leeson, Stefan Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Sergey Marchenko, Ward van Pelt, Colin R. Meyer, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Achim Heilig, Samira Samimi, Shawn Marshall, Horst Machguth, Michael MacFerrin, Masashi Niwano, Olivia Miller, Clifford I. Voss, and Jason E. Box
The Cryosphere, 14, 3785–3810, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3785-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3785-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In the vast interior of the Greenland ice sheet, snow accumulates into a thick and porous layer called firn. Each summer, the firn retains part of the meltwater generated at the surface and buffers sea-level rise. In this study, we compare nine firn models traditionally used to quantify this retention at four sites and evaluate their performance against a set of in situ observations. We highlight limitations of certain model designs and give perspectives for future model development.
Ankit Pramanik, Jack Kohler, Katrin Lindbäck, Penelope How, Ward Van Pelt, Glen Liston, and Thomas V. Schuler
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-197, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-197, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Freshwater discharge from tidewater glaciers influences fjord circulation and fjord ecosystem. Glacier hydrology plays crucial role in transporting water underneath glacier ice. We investigated hydrology beneath the tidewater glaciers of Kongsfjord basin in Northwest Svalbard and found that subglacial water flow differs substantially from surface flow of glacier ice. Furthermore, we derived freshwater discharge time-series from all the glaciers to the fjord.
Sergey Marchenko, Gong Cheng, Per Lötstedt, Veijo Pohjola, Rickard Pettersson, Ward van Pelt, and Carleen Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 13, 1843–1859, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1843-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1843-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Thermal conductivity (k) of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, is estimated using measured temperature evolution and density. The optimized k values (0.2–1.6 W (m K)−1) increase downwards and over time and are most sensitive to systematic errors in measured temperature values and their depths, particularly in the lower part of the profile. Compared to the density-based parameterizations, derived k values are consistently larger, suggesting a faster conductive heat exchange in firn.
Solveig H. Winsvold, Andreas Kääb, Christopher Nuth, Liss M. Andreassen, Ward J. J. van Pelt, and Thomas Schellenberger
The Cryosphere, 12, 867–890, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-867-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-867-2018, 2018
Dorothée Vallot, Jan Åström, Thomas Zwinger, Rickard Pettersson, Alistair Everett, Douglas I. Benn, Adrian Luckman, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Faezeh Nick, and Jack Kohler
The Cryosphere, 12, 609–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-609-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-609-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new perspective on the role of ice dynamics and ocean interaction in glacier calving processes applied to Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard. A global modelling approach includes ice flow modelling, undercutting estimation by a combination of glacier energy balance and plume modelling as well as calving by a discrete particle model. We show that modelling undercutting is necessary and calving is influenced by basal friction velocity and geometry.
Penelope How, Douglas I. Benn, Nicholas R. J. Hulton, Bryn Hubbard, Adrian Luckman, Heïdi Sevestre, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Katrin Lindbäck, Jack Kohler, and Wim Boot
The Cryosphere, 11, 2691–2710, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2691-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2691-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides valuable insight into subglacial hydrology and dynamics at tidewater glaciers, which remains a poorly understood area of glaciology. It is a unique study because of the wealth of information provided by simultaneous observations of glacier hydrology at Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard. All these elements build a strong conceptual picture of the glacier's hydrological regime over the 2014 melt season.
Daniel Farinotti, Douglas J. Brinkerhoff, Garry K. C. Clarke, Johannes J. Fürst, Holger Frey, Prateek Gantayat, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Claire Girard, Matthias Huss, Paul W. Leclercq, Andreas Linsbauer, Horst Machguth, Carlos Martin, Fabien Maussion, Mathieu Morlighem, Cyrille Mosbeux, Ankur Pandit, Andrea Portmann, Antoine Rabatel, RAAJ Ramsankaran, Thomas J. Reerink, Olivier Sanchez, Peter A. Stentoft, Sangita Singh Kumari, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Brian Anderson, Toby Benham, Daniel Binder, Julian A. Dowdeswell, Andrea Fischer, Kay Helfricht, Stanislav Kutuzov, Ivan Lavrentiev, Robert McNabb, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, Huilin Li, and Liss M. Andreassen
The Cryosphere, 11, 949–970, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-949-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-949-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
ITMIX – the Ice Thickness Models Intercomparison eXperiment – was the first coordinated performance assessment for models inferring glacier ice thickness from surface characteristics. Considering 17 different models and 21 different test cases, we show that although solutions of individual models can differ considerably, an ensemble average can yield uncertainties in the order of 10 ± 24 % the mean ice thickness. Ways forward for improving such estimates are sketched.
Carmen P. Vega, Veijo A. Pohjola, Emilie Beaudon, Björn Claremar, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Rickard Pettersson, Elisabeth Isaksson, Tõnu Martma, Margit Schwikowski, and Carl E. Bøggild
The Cryosphere, 10, 961–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-961-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-961-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
To quantify post-depositional relocation of major ions by meltwater in snow and firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, consecutive ice cores drilled at this site were used to construct a synthetic core. The relocation length of most of the ions was on the order of 1 m between 2007 and 2010. Considering the ionic relocation lengths and annual melt percentages, we estimate that the atmospheric ionic signal remains preserved in recently drilled Lomonosovfonna ice cores at an annual or bi-annual resolution.
W. J. J. van Pelt, J. Oerlemans, C. H. Reijmer, R. Pettersson, V. A. Pohjola, E. Isaksson, and D. Divine
The Cryosphere, 7, 987–1006, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-987-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-987-2013, 2013
Małgorzata Błaszczyk, Bartłomiej Luks, Michał Pętlicki, Dariusz Puczko, Dariusz Ignatiuk, Michał Laska, Jacek Jania, and Piotr Głowacki
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1847–1860, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1847-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1847-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding the glacier response to accelerated climate warming in the Arctic requires data obtained in the field. Here, we present a dataset of velocity measurements of Hansbreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard. The glacier's velocity was measured with GPS at 16 stakes mounted on the glacier's surface. The measurements were conducted from about 1 week to about 1 month. The dataset offers unique material for validating numerical models of glacier dynamics and satellite-derived products.
Andrea Spolaor, Federico Scoto, Catherine Larose, Elena Barbaro, Francois Burgay, Mats P. Bjorkman, David Cappelletti, Federico Dallo, Fabrizio de Blasi, Dmitry Divine, Giuliano Dreossi, Jacopo Gabrieli, Elisabeth Isaksson, Jack Kohler, Tonu Martma, Louise S. Schmidt, Thomas V. Schuler, Barbara Stenni, Clara Turetta, Bartłomiej Luks, Mathieu Casado, and Jean-Charles Gallet
The Cryosphere, 18, 307–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-307-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-307-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluate the impact of the increased snowmelt on the preservation of the oxygen isotope (δ18O) signal in firn records recovered from the top of the Holtedahlfonna ice field located in the Svalbard archipelago. Thanks to a multidisciplinary approach we demonstrate a progressive deterioration of the isotope signal in the firn core. We link the degradation of the δ18O signal to the increased occurrence and intensity of melt events associated with the rapid warming occurring in the archipelago.
Thomas James Barnes, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Simon Filhol, and Karianne Staalesen Lilleøren
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2430, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2430, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we use machine learning to automatically outline landforms based on their characteristics. We test several methods to identify the most accurate, and then proceed to develop the most accurate to improve its accuracy further. We manage to outline landforms with 65–75 % accuracy, at a resolution of 10 metres, thanks to high-quality/-resolution elevation data. We find that it is possible to run this method at a country-scale to quickly produce landform inventories for future studies.
Thomas Frank, Ward J. J. van Pelt, and Jack Kohler
The Cryosphere, 17, 4021–4045, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4021-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4021-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Since the ice thickness of most glaciers worldwide is unknown, and since it is not feasible to visit every glacier and observe their thickness directly, inverse modelling techniques are needed that can calculate ice thickness from abundant surface observations. Here, we present a new method for doing that. Our methodology relies on modelling the rate of surface elevation change for a given glacier, compare this with observations of the same quantity and change the bed until the two are in line.
Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Erin Emily Thomas, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 17, 2941–2963, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2941-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2941-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Here, we present high-resolution simulations of glacier mass balance (the gain and loss of ice over a year) and runoff on Svalbard from 1991–2022, one of the fastest warming regions in the Arctic. The simulations are created using the CryoGrid community model. We find a small overall loss of mass over the simulation period of −0.08 m yr−1 but with no statistically significant trend. The average runoff was found to be 41 Gt yr−1, with a significant increasing trend of 6.3 Gt per decade.
Alice C. Frémand, Peter Fretwell, Julien A. Bodart, Hamish D. Pritchard, Alan Aitken, Jonathan L. Bamber, Robin Bell, Cesidio Bianchi, Robert G. Bingham, Donald D. Blankenship, Gino Casassa, Ginny Catania, Knut Christianson, Howard Conway, Hugh F. J. Corr, Xiangbin Cui, Detlef Damaske, Volkmar Damm, Reinhard Drews, Graeme Eagles, Olaf Eisen, Hannes Eisermann, Fausto Ferraccioli, Elena Field, René Forsberg, Steven Franke, Shuji Fujita, Yonggyu Gim, Vikram Goel, Siva Prasad Gogineni, Jamin Greenbaum, Benjamin Hills, Richard C. A. Hindmarsh, Andrew O. Hoffman, Per Holmlund, Nicholas Holschuh, John W. Holt, Annika N. Horlings, Angelika Humbert, Robert W. Jacobel, Daniela Jansen, Adrian Jenkins, Wilfried Jokat, Tom Jordan, Edward King, Jack Kohler, William Krabill, Mette Kusk Gillespie, Kirsty Langley, Joohan Lee, German Leitchenkov, Carlton Leuschen, Bruce Luyendyk, Joseph MacGregor, Emma MacKie, Kenichi Matsuoka, Mathieu Morlighem, Jérémie Mouginot, Frank O. Nitsche, Yoshifumi Nogi, Ole A. Nost, John Paden, Frank Pattyn, Sergey V. Popov, Eric Rignot, David M. Rippin, Andrés Rivera, Jason Roberts, Neil Ross, Anotonia Ruppel, Dustin M. Schroeder, Martin J. Siegert, Andrew M. Smith, Daniel Steinhage, Michael Studinger, Bo Sun, Ignazio Tabacco, Kirsty Tinto, Stefano Urbini, David Vaughan, Brian C. Welch, Douglas S. Wilson, Duncan A. Young, and Achille Zirizzotti
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2695–2710, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2695-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2695-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the release of over 60 years of ice thickness, bed elevation, and surface elevation data acquired over Antarctica by the international community. These data are a crucial component of the Antarctic Bedmap initiative which aims to produce a new map and datasets of Antarctic ice thickness and bed topography for the international glaciology and geophysical community.
Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Johanna Scheer, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Nitin Chaudhary, Bernd Etzelmüller, Simon Filhol, Andreas Kääb, Cas Renette, Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Robin B. Zweigel, Léo Martin, Sarah Morard, Matan Ben-Asher, Michael Angelopoulos, Julia Boike, Brian Groenke, Frederieke Miesner, Jan Nitzbon, Paul Overduin, Simone M. Stuenzi, and Moritz Langer
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 2607–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The CryoGrid community model is a new tool for simulating ground temperatures and the water and ice balance in cold regions. It is a modular design, which makes it possible to test different schemes to simulate, for example, permafrost ground in an efficient way. The model contains tools to simulate frozen and unfrozen ground, snow, glaciers, and other massive ice bodies, as well as water bodies.
Inès N. Otosaka, Andrew Shepherd, Erik R. Ivins, Nicole-Jeanne Schlegel, Charles Amory, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Martin Horwath, Ian Joughin, Michalea D. King, Gerhard Krinner, Sophie Nowicki, Anthony J. Payne, Eric Rignot, Ted Scambos, Karen M. Simon, Benjamin E. Smith, Louise S. Sørensen, Isabella Velicogna, Pippa L. Whitehouse, Geruo A, Cécile Agosta, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, Alejandro Blazquez, William Colgan, Marcus E. Engdahl, Xavier Fettweis, Rene Forsberg, Hubert Gallée, Alex Gardner, Lin Gilbert, Noel Gourmelen, Andreas Groh, Brian C. Gunter, Christopher Harig, Veit Helm, Shfaqat Abbas Khan, Christoph Kittel, Hannes Konrad, Peter L. Langen, Benoit S. Lecavalier, Chia-Chun Liang, Bryant D. Loomis, Malcolm McMillan, Daniele Melini, Sebastian H. Mernild, Ruth Mottram, Jeremie Mouginot, Johan Nilsson, Brice Noël, Mark E. Pattle, William R. Peltier, Nadege Pie, Mònica Roca, Ingo Sasgen, Himanshu V. Save, Ki-Weon Seo, Bernd Scheuchl, Ernst J. O. Schrama, Ludwig Schröder, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Thomas Slater, Giorgio Spada, Tyler C. Sutterley, Bramha Dutt Vishwakarma, Jan Melchior van Wessem, David Wiese, Wouter van der Wal, and Bert Wouters
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1597–1616, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1597-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1597-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
By measuring changes in the volume, gravitational attraction, and ice flow of Greenland and Antarctica from space, we can monitor their mass gain and loss over time. Here, we present a new record of the Earth’s polar ice sheet mass balance produced by aggregating 50 satellite-based estimates of ice sheet mass change. This new assessment shows that the ice sheets have lost (7.5 x 1012) t of ice between 1992 and 2020, contributing 21 mm to sea level rise.
Coline Bouchayer, Ugo Nanni, Pierre-Marie Lefeuvre, John Hulth, Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Jack Kohler, François Renard, and Thomas V. Schuler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-618, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-618, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Glaciers can experience intermittent phases of accelerated movement, called surges, primarily caused by changes occuring beneath the ice, particularly at the ice-bed interface. Studying these subglacial conditions is challenging because of the difficulty of accessing the glacier bed. To overcome this challenge, we monitored changes in the subglacial environment of Kongsvegen Glacier in Svalbard for one year. We discuss our results in the context of glacier destabilization.
Yetang Wang, Xueying Zhang, Wentao Ning, Matthew A. Lazzara, Minghu Ding, Carleen H. Reijmer, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Paolo Grigioni, Petra Heil, Elizabeth R. Thomas, David Mikolajczyk, Lee J. Welhouse, Linda M. Keller, Zhaosheng Zhai, Yuqi Sun, and Shugui Hou
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 411–429, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-411-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-411-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Here we construct a new database of Antarctic automatic weather station (AWS) meteorological records, which is quality-controlled by restrictive criteria. This dataset compiled all available Antarctic AWS observations, and its resolutions are 3-hourly, daily and monthly, which is very useful for quantifying spatiotemporal variability in weather conditions. Furthermore, this compilation will be used to estimate the performance of the regional climate models or meteorological reanalysis products.
Anirudha Mahagaonkar, Geir Moholdt, and Thomas V. Schuler
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-4, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-4, 2023
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Surface meltwater lakes along the margins of the Antarctic Ice Sheet can be important for ice shelf dynamics and stability. We used optical satellite imagery to study seasonal evolution of meltwater lakes in Dronning Maud Land. We found large interannual variability in lake extents, but with consistent seasonal patterns. Although correlation with summer air temperature was strong locally, other climatic and environmental factors need to be considered to explain the large regional variability.
Marlene Kronenberg, Ward van Pelt, Horst Machguth, Joel Fiddes, Martin Hoelzle, and Felix Pertziger
The Cryosphere, 16, 5001–5022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5001-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5001-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Pamir Alay is located at the edge of regions with anomalous glacier mass changes. Unique long-term in situ data are available for Abramov Glacier, located in the Pamir Alay. In this study, we use this extraordinary data set in combination with reanalysis data and a coupled surface energy balance–multilayer subsurface model to compute and analyse the distributed climatic mass balance and firn evolution from 1968 to 2020.
Marte G. Hofsteenge, Nicolas J. Cullen, Carleen H. Reijmer, Michiel van den Broeke, Marwan Katurji, and John F. Orwin
The Cryosphere, 16, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5041-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5041-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), foehn winds can impact glacial meltwater production and the fragile ecosystem that depends on it. We study these dry and warm winds at Joyce Glacier and show they are caused by a different mechanism than that found for nearby valleys, demonstrating the complex interaction of large-scale winds with the mountains in the MDV. We find that foehn winds increase sublimation of ice, increase heating from the atmosphere, and increase the occurrence and rates of melt.
Outi Meinander, Pavla Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavel Amosov, Elena Aseyeva, Cliff Atkins, Alexander Baklanov, Clarissa Baldo, Sarah L. Barr, Barbara Barzycka, Liane G. Benning, Bojan Cvetkovic, Polina Enchilik, Denis Frolov, Santiago Gassó, Konrad Kandler, Nikolay Kasimov, Jan Kavan, James King, Tatyana Koroleva, Viktoria Krupskaya, Markku Kulmala, Monika Kusiak, Hanna K. Lappalainen, Michał Laska, Jerome Lasne, Marek Lewandowski, Bartłomiej Luks, James B. McQuaid, Beatrice Moroni, Benjamin Murray, Ottmar Möhler, Adam Nawrot, Slobodan Nickovic, Norman T. O’Neill, Goran Pejanovic, Olga Popovicheva, Keyvan Ranjbar, Manolis Romanias, Olga Samonova, Alberto Sanchez-Marroquin, Kerstin Schepanski, Ivan Semenkov, Anna Sharapova, Elena Shevnina, Zongbo Shi, Mikhail Sofiev, Frédéric Thevenet, Throstur Thorsteinsson, Mikhail Timofeev, Nsikanabasi Silas Umo, Andreas Uppstu, Darya Urupina, György Varga, Tomasz Werner, Olafur Arnalds, and Ana Vukovic Vimic
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11889–11930, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11889-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11889-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
High-latitude dust (HLD) is a short-lived climate forcer, air pollutant, and nutrient source. Our results suggest a northern HLD belt at 50–58° N in Eurasia and 50–55° N in Canada and at >60° N in Eurasia and >58° N in Canada. Our addition to the previously identified global dust belt (GDB) provides crucially needed information on the extent of active HLD sources with both direct and indirect impacts on climate and environment in remote regions, which are often poorly understood and predicted.
Tiago Silva, Jakob Abermann, Brice Noël, Sonika Shahi, Willem Jan van de Berg, and Wolfgang Schöner
The Cryosphere, 16, 3375–3391, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3375-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3375-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To overcome internal climate variability, this study uses k-means clustering to combine NAO, GBI and IWV over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and names the approach as the North Atlantic influence on Greenland (NAG). With the support of a polar-adapted RCM, spatio-temporal changes on SEB components within NAG phases are investigated. We report atmospheric warming and moistening across all NAG phases as well as large-scale and regional-scale contributions to GrIS mass loss and their interactions.
Jonathan P. Conway, Jakob Abermann, Liss M. Andreassen, Mohd Farooq Azam, Nicolas J. Cullen, Noel Fitzpatrick, Rianne H. Giesen, Kirsty Langley, Shelley MacDonell, Thomas Mölg, Valentina Radić, Carleen H. Reijmer, and Jean-Emmanuel Sicart
The Cryosphere, 16, 3331–3356, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3331-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3331-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We used data from automatic weather stations on 16 glaciers to show how clouds influence glacier melt in different climates around the world. We found surface melt was always more frequent when it was cloudy but was not universally faster or slower than under clear-sky conditions. Also, air temperature was related to clouds in opposite ways in different climates – warmer with clouds in cold climates and vice versa. These results will help us improve how we model past and future glacier melt.
Johannes Oerlemans, Jack Kohler, and Adrian Luckman
The Cryosphere, 16, 2115–2126, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2115-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2115-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Tunabreen is a 26 km long tidewater glacier. It is the most frequently surging glacier in Svalbard, with four documented surges in the past 100 years. We have modelled this glacier to find out how it reacts to future climate change. Careful calibration was done against the observed length record for the past 100 years. For a 50 m increase in the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) the length of the glacier will be shortened by 10 km after about 100 years.
Thorben Dunse, Kaixing Dong, Kjetil Schanke Aas, and Leif Christian Stige
Biogeosciences, 19, 271–294, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the effect of glacier meltwater on phytoplankton dynamics in Svalbard. Phytoplankton forms the basis of the marine food web, and its seasonal dynamics depend on the availability of light and nutrients, both of which are affected by glacier runoff. We use satellite ocean color, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass, and glacier mass balance modeling to find that the overall effect of glacier runoff on marine productivity is positive within the major fjord systems of Svalbard.
Kenneth D. Mankoff, Xavier Fettweis, Peter L. Langen, Martin Stendel, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Nanna B. Karlsson, Brice Noël, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Anne Solgaard, William Colgan, Jason E. Box, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Michalea D. King, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, Signe Bech Andersen, and Robert S. Fausto
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5001–5025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5001-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5001-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We estimate the daily mass balance and its components (surface, marine, and basal mass balance) for the Greenland ice sheet. Our time series begins in 1840 and has annual resolution through 1985 and then daily from 1986 through next week. Results are operational (updated daily) and provided for the entire ice sheet or by commonly used regions or sectors. This is the first input–output mass balance estimate to include the basal mass balance.
Enrico Mattea, Horst Machguth, Marlene Kronenberg, Ward van Pelt, Manuela Bassi, and Martin Hoelzle
The Cryosphere, 15, 3181–3205, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3181-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3181-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In our study we find that climate change is affecting the high-alpine Colle Gnifetti glacier (Swiss–Italian Alps) with an increase in melt amounts and ice temperatures.
In the near future this trend could threaten the viability of the oldest ice core record in the Alps.
To reach our conclusions, for the first time we used the meteorological data of the highest permanent weather station in Europe (Capanna Margherita, 4560 m), together with an advanced numeric simulation of the glacier.
Yetang Wang, Minghu Ding, Carleen H. Reijmer, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Shugui Hou, and Cunde Xiao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3057–3074, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3057-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3057-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate observation of surface mass balance (SMB) under climate change is essential for the reliable present and future assessment of Antarctic contribution to global sea level. This study presents a new quality-controlled dataset of Antarctic SMB observations at different temporal resolutions and is the first ice-sheet-scale compilation of multiple types of measurements. The dataset can be widely applied to climate model validation, remote sensing retrievals, and data assimilation.
Chloé Scholzen, Thomas V. Schuler, and Adrien Gilbert
The Cryosphere, 15, 2719–2738, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2719-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We use a two-dimensional model of water flow below the glaciers in Kongsfjord, Svalbard, to investigate how different processes of surface-to-bed meltwater transfer affect subglacial hydraulic conditions. The latter are important for the sliding motion of glaciers, which in some cases exhibit huge variations. Our findings indicate that the glaciers in our study area undergo substantial sliding because water is poorly evacuated from their base, with limited influence from the surface hydrology.
Maurice van Tiggelen, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Carleen H. Reijmer, Bert Wouters, Jakob F. Steiner, Emile J. Nieuwstraten, Walter W. Immerzeel, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 15, 2601–2621, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2601-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2601-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a method to estimate the aerodynamic properties of the Greenland Ice Sheet surface using either UAV or ICESat-2 elevation data. We show that this new method is able to reproduce the important spatiotemporal variability in surface aerodynamic roughness, measured by the field observations. The new maps of surface roughness can be used in atmospheric models to improve simulations of surface turbulent heat fluxes and therefore surface energy and mass balance over rough ice worldwide.
Juditha Undine Schmidt, Bernd Etzelmüller, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Florence Magnin, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 15, 2491–2509, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2491-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2491-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents rock surface temperatures (RSTs) of steep high-Arctic rock walls on Svalbard from 2016 to 2020. The field data show that coastal cliffs are characterized by warmer RSTs than inland locations during winter seasons. By running model simulations, we analyze factors leading to that effect, calculate the surface energy balance and simulate different future scenarios. Both field data and model results can contribute to a further understanding of RST in high-Arctic rock walls.
Elena Barbaro, Krystyna Koziol, Mats P. Björkman, Carmen P. Vega, Christian Zdanowicz, Tonu Martma, Jean-Charles Gallet, Daniel Kępski, Catherine Larose, Bartłomiej Luks, Florian Tolle, Thomas V. Schuler, Aleksander Uszczyk, and Andrea Spolaor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3163–3180, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3163-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3163-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper shows the most comprehensive seasonal snow chemistry survey to date, carried out in April 2016 across 22 sites on 7 glaciers across Svalbard. The dataset consists of the concentration, mass loading, spatial and altitudinal distribution of major ion species (Ca2+, K+,
Na2+, Mg2+,
NH4+, SO42−,
Br−, Cl− and
NO3−), together with its stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope composition (δ18O and
δ2H) in the snowpack. This study was part of the larger Community Coordinated Snow Study in Svalbard.
Christian Zdanowicz, Jean-Charles Gallet, Mats P. Björkman, Catherine Larose, Thomas Schuler, Bartłomiej Luks, Krystyna Koziol, Andrea Spolaor, Elena Barbaro, Tõnu Martma, Ward van Pelt, Ulla Wideqvist, and Johan Ström
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3035–3057, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3035-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3035-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) aerosols are soot-like particles which, when transported to the Arctic, darken snow surfaces, thus indirectly affecting climate. Information on BC in Arctic snow is needed to measure their impact and monitor the efficacy of pollution-reduction policies. This paper presents a large new set of BC measurements in snow in Svalbard collected between 2007 and 2018. It describes how BC in snow varies across the archipelago and explores some factors controlling these variations.
Eric Keenan, Nander Wever, Marissa Dattler, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Brooke Medley, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Carleen Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 15, 1065–1085, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1065-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1065-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Snow density is required to convert observed changes in ice sheet volume into mass, which ultimately drives ice sheet contribution to sea level rise. However, snow properties respond dynamically to wind-driven redistribution. Here we include a new wind-driven snow density scheme into an existing snow model. Our results demonstrate an improved representation of snow density when compared to observations and can therefore be used to improve retrievals of ice sheet mass balance.
Andreas Alexander, Jaroslav Obu, Thomas V. Schuler, Andreas Kääb, and Hanne H. Christiansen
The Cryosphere, 14, 4217–4231, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4217-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present subglacial air, ice and sediment temperatures from within the basal drainage systems of two cold-based glaciers on Svalbard during late spring and the summer melt season. We put the data into the context of air temperature and rainfall at the glacier surface and show the importance of surface events on the subglacial thermal regime and erosion around basal drainage channels. Observed vertical erosion rates thereby reachup to 0.9 m d−1.
Baojuan Huai, Michiel R. van den Broeke, and Carleen H. Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 14, 4181–4199, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4181-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4181-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the surface energy balance (SEB) of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) using a SEB model forced with observations from automatic weather stations (AWSs). We correlate ERA5 with AWSs to show a significant positive correlation of GrIS summer surface temperature and melt with the Greenland Blocking Index and weaker and opposite correlations with the North Atlantic Oscillation. This analysis may help explain melting patterns in the GrIS with respect to circulation anomalies.
Kenneth D. Mankoff, Brice Noël, Xavier Fettweis, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, William Colgan, Ken Kondo, Kirsty Langley, Shin Sugiyama, Dirk van As, and Robert S. Fausto
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2811–2841, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2811-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2811-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This work partitions regional climate model (RCM) runoff from the MAR and RACMO RCMs to hydrologic outlets at the ice margin and coast. Temporal resolution is daily from 1959 through 2019. Spatial grid is ~ 100 m, resolving individual streams. In addition to discharge at outlets, we also provide the streams, outlets, and basin geospatial data, as well as a script to query and access the geospatial or time series discharge data from the data files.
Xavier Fettweis, Stefan Hofer, Uta Krebs-Kanzow, Charles Amory, Teruo Aoki, Constantijn J. Berends, Andreas Born, Jason E. Box, Alison Delhasse, Koji Fujita, Paul Gierz, Heiko Goelzer, Edward Hanna, Akihiro Hashimoto, Philippe Huybrechts, Marie-Luise Kapsch, Michalea D. King, Christoph Kittel, Charlotte Lang, Peter L. Langen, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Glen E. Liston, Gerrit Lohmann, Sebastian H. Mernild, Uwe Mikolajewicz, Kameswarrao Modali, Ruth H. Mottram, Masashi Niwano, Brice Noël, Jonathan C. Ryan, Amy Smith, Jan Streffing, Marco Tedesco, Willem Jan van de Berg, Michiel van den Broeke, Roderik S. W. van de Wal, Leo van Kampenhout, David Wilton, Bert Wouters, Florian Ziemen, and Tobias Zolles
The Cryosphere, 14, 3935–3958, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3935-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3935-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluated simulated Greenland Ice Sheet surface mass balance from 5 kinds of models. While the most complex (but expensive to compute) models remain the best, the faster/simpler models also compare reliably with observations and have biases of the same order as the regional models. Discrepancies in the trend over 2000–2012, however, suggest that large uncertainties remain in the modelled future SMB changes as they are highly impacted by the meltwater runoff biases over the current climate.
Baptiste Vandecrux, Ruth Mottram, Peter L. Langen, Robert S. Fausto, Martin Olesen, C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Amber Leeson, Stefan Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Sergey Marchenko, Ward van Pelt, Colin R. Meyer, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Achim Heilig, Samira Samimi, Shawn Marshall, Horst Machguth, Michael MacFerrin, Masashi Niwano, Olivia Miller, Clifford I. Voss, and Jason E. Box
The Cryosphere, 14, 3785–3810, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3785-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3785-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In the vast interior of the Greenland ice sheet, snow accumulates into a thick and porous layer called firn. Each summer, the firn retains part of the meltwater generated at the surface and buffers sea-level rise. In this study, we compare nine firn models traditionally used to quantify this retention at four sites and evaluate their performance against a set of in situ observations. We highlight limitations of certain model designs and give perspectives for future model development.
Aynom T. Teweldebrhan, Thomas V. Schuler, John F. Burkhart, and Morten Hjorth-Jensen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4641–4658, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4641-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4641-2020, 2020
Ankit Pramanik, Jack Kohler, Katrin Lindbäck, Penelope How, Ward Van Pelt, Glen Liston, and Thomas V. Schuler
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-197, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-197, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Freshwater discharge from tidewater glaciers influences fjord circulation and fjord ecosystem. Glacier hydrology plays crucial role in transporting water underneath glacier ice. We investigated hydrology beneath the tidewater glaciers of Kongsfjord basin in Northwest Svalbard and found that subglacial water flow differs substantially from surface flow of glacier ice. Furthermore, we derived freshwater discharge time-series from all the glaciers to the fjord.
Vincent Verjans, Amber A. Leeson, Christopher Nemeth, C. Max Stevens, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Brice Noël, and Jan Melchior van Wessem
The Cryosphere, 14, 3017–3032, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3017-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3017-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Ice sheets are covered by a firn layer, which is the transition stage between fresh snow and ice. Accurate modelling of firn density properties is important in many glaciological aspects. Current models show disagreements, are mostly calibrated to match specific observations of firn density and lack thorough uncertainty analysis. We use a novel calibration method for firn models based on a Bayesian statistical framework, which results in improved model accuracy and in uncertainty evaluation.
Heiko Goelzer, Brice P. Y. Noël, Tamsin L. Edwards, Xavier Fettweis, Jonathan M. Gregory, William H. Lipscomb, Roderik S. W. van de Wal, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 14, 1747–1762, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1747-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1747-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Future sea-level change projections with process-based ice sheet models are typically driven with surface mass balance forcing derived from climate models. In this work we address the problems arising from a mismatch of the modelled ice sheet geometry with the one used by the climate model. The proposed remapping method reproduces the original forcing data closely when applied to the original geometry and produces a physically meaningful forcing when applied to different modelled geometries.
Brice Noël, Leonardus van Kampenhout, Willem Jan van de Berg, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Bert Wouters, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 14, 1425–1435, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1425-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1425-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present a reconstruction of historical (1950–2014) surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet using the Community Earth System Model (CESM2; ~111 km) to force a high-resolution regional climate model (RACMO2; ~11 km), which is further refined to 1 km spatial resolution. For the first time, an Earth-system-model-based product, assimilating no observations, can reconstruct realistic historical ice sheet surface mass balance as well as the mass loss acceleration that started in the 1990s.
Mark J. Hopwood, Dustin Carroll, Thorben Dunse, Andy Hodson, Johnna M. Holding, José L. Iriarte, Sofia Ribeiro, Eric P. Achterberg, Carolina Cantoni, Daniel F. Carlson, Melissa Chierici, Jennifer S. Clarke, Stefano Cozzi, Agneta Fransson, Thomas Juul-Pedersen, Mie H. S. Winding, and Lorenz Meire
The Cryosphere, 14, 1347–1383, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1347-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1347-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Here we compare and contrast results from five well-studied Arctic field sites in order to understand how glaciers affect marine biogeochemistry and marine primary production. The key questions are listed as follows. Where and when does glacial freshwater discharge promote or reduce marine primary production? How does spatio-temporal variability in glacial discharge affect marine primary production? And how far-reaching are the effects of glacial discharge on marine biogeochemistry?
Thomas Vikhamar Schuler and Torbjørn Ims Østby
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 875–885, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-875-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-875-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric variables needed to force terrestrial process models (permafrost, glacier mass balance, seasonal snow, surface energy balance) have been downscaled from the ERA-40 and ERA-Interim reanalyses using methodology described in the accompanying paper. The gridded dataset has a horizontal resolution of 1 km and covers the entire Svalbard archipelago. The data have a temporal resolution of 6 h and cover the entire ERA-40 period (1957–2002) and the ERA-Interim period (1979–2017).
Andreas Alexander, Maarja Kruusmaa, Jeffrey A. Tuhtan, Andrew J. Hodson, Thomas V. Schuler, and Andreas Kääb
The Cryosphere, 14, 1009–1023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1009-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1009-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This work shows the potential of pressure and inertia sensing drifters to measure flow parameters along glacial channels. The technology allows us to record the spatial distribution of water pressures, as well as an estimation of the flow velocity along the flow path in the channels. The measurements show a high repeatability and the potential to identify channel morphology from sensor readings.
Raymond Sellevold, Leonardus van Kampenhout, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Brice Noël, William H. Lipscomb, and Miren Vizcaino
The Cryosphere, 13, 3193–3208, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3193-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3193-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluate a downscaling method to calculate ice sheet surface mass balance with global climate models, despite their coarse resolution. We compare it with high-resolution climate modeling. Despite absence of fine-scale simulation of individual energy and mass contributors, the method provides realistic vertical SMB gradients that can be used in forcing of ice sheet models, e.g., for sea level projections. Also, the climate model simulation is improved with the method implemented interactively.
Thomas J. Ballinger, Thomas L. Mote, Kyle Mattingly, Angela C. Bliss, Edward Hanna, Dirk van As, Melissa Prieto, Saeideh Gharehchahi, Xavier Fettweis, Brice Noël, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Carleen H. Reijmer, Mads H. Ribergaard, and John Cappelen
The Cryosphere, 13, 2241–2257, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic sea ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) are melting later in the year due to a warming climate. Through analyses of weather station, climate model, and reanalysis data, physical links are evaluated between Baffin Bay open water duration and western GrIS melt conditions. We show that sub-Arctic air mass movement across this portion of the GrIS strongly influences late summer and autumn melt, while near-surface, off-ice winds inhibit westerly atmospheric heat transfer from Baffin Bay.
Sergey Marchenko, Gong Cheng, Per Lötstedt, Veijo Pohjola, Rickard Pettersson, Ward van Pelt, and Carleen Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 13, 1843–1859, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1843-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1843-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Thermal conductivity (k) of firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, is estimated using measured temperature evolution and density. The optimized k values (0.2–1.6 W (m K)−1) increase downwards and over time and are most sensitive to systematic errors in measured temperature values and their depths, particularly in the lower part of the profile. Compared to the density-based parameterizations, derived k values are consistently larger, suggesting a faster conductive heat exchange in firn.
Vincent Verjans, Amber A. Leeson, C. Max Stevens, Michael MacFerrin, Brice Noël, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 13, 1819–1842, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1819-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1819-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Firn models rely on empirical approaches for representing the percolation and refreezing of meltwater through the firn column. We develop liquid water schemes of different levels of complexity for firn models and compare their performances with respect to observations of density profiles from Greenland. Our results demonstrate that physically advanced water schemes do not lead to better agreement with density observations. Uncertainties in other processes contribute more to model discrepancy.
Constantijn L. Jakobs, Carleen H. Reijmer, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Gert König-Langlo, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 13, 1473–1485, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1473-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1473-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We use 24 years of observations at Neumayer Station, East Antarctica, to calculate the surface energy balance and the associated surface melt, which we find to be mainly driven by the absorption of solar radiation. Meltwater can refreeze in the subsurface snow layers, thereby decreasing the surface albedo and hence allowing for more absorption of solar radiation. By implementing an albedo parameterisation, we show that this feedback accounts for a threefold increase in surface melt at Neumayer.
Dorothée Vallot, Sigit Adinugroho, Robin Strand, Penelope How, Rickard Pettersson, Douglas I. Benn, and Nicholas R. J. Hulton
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 8, 113–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-8-113-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-8-113-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a novel method to quantify the sizes and frequency of calving events from time-lapse camera images. The calving front of a tidewater glacier experiences different episodes of iceberg deliveries that can be captured by a time-lapse camera situated in front of the glacier. An automatic way of detecting calving events is presented here and compared to manually detected events.
Michalea D. King, Ian M. Howat, Seongsu Jeong, Myoung J. Noh, Bert Wouters, Brice Noël, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 12, 3813–3825, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3813-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3813-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We derive the first continuous record of total ice discharged from all large Greenland outlet glaciers over the 2000–2016 period, resolving a distinct pattern of seasonal variability. We compare these results to glacier retreat and meltwater runoff and find that while runoff has a limited impact on ice discharge in summer, long-term changes in discharge are highly correlated to retreat. These results help to better understand Greenland outlet glacier sensitivity over a range of timescales.
Katrin Lindbäck, Jack Kohler, Rickard Pettersson, Christopher Nuth, Kirsty Langley, Alexandra Messerli, Dorothée Vallot, Kenichi Matsuoka, and Ola Brandt
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1769–1781, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1769-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1769-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Tidewater glaciers terminate directly into the sea and the glacier fronts are important feeding areas for birds and marine mammals. Svalbard tidewater glaciers are retreating, which will affect fjord circulation and ecosystems when glacier fronts end on land. In this paper, we present digital maps of ice thickness and topography under five tidewater glaciers in Kongsfjorden, northwestern Svalbard, which will be useful in studies of future glacier changes in the area.
Aynom T. Teweldebrhan, John F. Burkhart, and Thomas V. Schuler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 5021–5039, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5021-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5021-2018, 2018
Jiangjun Ran, Miren Vizcaino, Pavel Ditmar, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Twila Moon, Christian R. Steger, Ellyn M. Enderlin, Bert Wouters, Brice Noël, Catharina H. Reijmer, Roland Klees, Min Zhong, Lin Liu, and Xavier Fettweis
The Cryosphere, 12, 2981–2999, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2981-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2981-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
To accurately predict future sea level rise, the mechanisms driving the observed mass loss must be better understood. Here, we combine data from the satellite gravimetry, surface mass balance, and ice discharge to analyze the mass budget of Greenland at various temporal scales. This study, for the first time, suggests the existence of a substantial meltwater storage during summer, with a peak value of 80–120 Gt in July. We highlight its importance for understanding ice sheet mass variability
Stefan R. M. Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Brice P. Y. Noël, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 12, 1643–1649, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1643-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1643-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Firn is the transitional product between fresh snow and glacier ice, and a 10-100 m thick layer covers the Greenland ice sheet. It has the capacity to store meltwater and thereby mitigate runoff to the ocean. Using a model and improved atmospheric forcing, we simulate firn density and temperature that agrees well with observations from firn cores. Especially in the regions with substantial melt, and therefore the most sensitive to a warming climate, the results improved significantly.
Jan Melchior van Wessem, Willem Jan van de Berg, Brice P. Y. Noël, Erik van Meijgaard, Charles Amory, Gerit Birnbaum, Constantijn L. Jakobs, Konstantin Krüger, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Stef Lhermitte, Stefan R. M. Ligtenberg, Brooke Medley, Carleen H. Reijmer, Kristof van Tricht, Luke D. Trusel, Lambertus H. van Ulft, Bert Wouters, Jan Wuite, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 12, 1479–1498, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1479-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1479-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We present a detailed evaluation of the latest version of the regional atmospheric climate model RACMO2.3p2 (1979-2016) over the Antarctic ice sheet. The model successfully reproduces the present-day climate and surface mass balance (SMB) when compared with an extensive set of observations and improves on previous estimates of the Antarctic climate and SMB.
This study shows that the latest version of RACMO2 can be used for high-resolution future projections over the AIS.
Solveig H. Winsvold, Andreas Kääb, Christopher Nuth, Liss M. Andreassen, Ward J. J. van Pelt, and Thomas Schellenberger
The Cryosphere, 12, 867–890, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-867-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-867-2018, 2018
Brice Noël, Willem Jan van de Berg, J. Melchior van Wessem, Erik van Meijgaard, Dirk van As, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Stef Lhermitte, Peter Kuipers Munneke, C. J. P. Paul Smeets, Lambertus H. van Ulft, Roderik S. W. van de Wal, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 12, 811–831, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-811-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-811-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We present a detailed evaluation of the latest version of the regional climate model RACMO2.3p2 at 11 km resolution (1958–2016) over the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). The model successfully reproduces the present-day climate and surface mass balance, i.e. snowfall minus meltwater run-off, of the GrIS compared to in situ observations. Since run-off from marginal narrow glaciers is poorly resolved at 11 km, further statistical downscaling to 1 km resolution is required for mass balance studies.
Dorothée Vallot, Jan Åström, Thomas Zwinger, Rickard Pettersson, Alistair Everett, Douglas I. Benn, Adrian Luckman, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Faezeh Nick, and Jack Kohler
The Cryosphere, 12, 609–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-609-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-609-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new perspective on the role of ice dynamics and ocean interaction in glacier calving processes applied to Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard. A global modelling approach includes ice flow modelling, undercutting estimation by a combination of glacier energy balance and plume modelling as well as calving by a discrete particle model. We show that modelling undercutting is necessary and calving is influenced by basal friction velocity and geometry.
Kristoffer Aalstad, Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Julia Boike, and Laurent Bertino
The Cryosphere, 12, 247–270, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-247-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-247-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate how snow cover data from satellites can be used to constrain estimates of snow distributions at sites in the Arctic. In this effort, we make use of data assimilation to combine the information contained in the snow cover data with a simple snow model. By comparing our snow distribution estimates to independent observations, we find that this method performs favorably. Being modular, this method could be applied to other areas as a component of a larger reanalysis system.
Penelope How, Douglas I. Benn, Nicholas R. J. Hulton, Bryn Hubbard, Adrian Luckman, Heïdi Sevestre, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Katrin Lindbäck, Jack Kohler, and Wim Boot
The Cryosphere, 11, 2691–2710, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2691-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2691-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides valuable insight into subglacial hydrology and dynamics at tidewater glaciers, which remains a poorly understood area of glaciology. It is a unique study because of the wealth of information provided by simultaneous observations of glacier hydrology at Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard. All these elements build a strong conceptual picture of the glacier's hydrological regime over the 2014 melt season.
Christian R. Steger, Carleen H. Reijmer, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 11, 2507–2526, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2507-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2507-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet, which contributes to sea level rise, is currently dominated by surface melt and run-off. The relation between these two variables is rather uncertain due to the firn layer’s potential to buffer melt in solid (refreezing) or liquid (firn aquifer) form. To address this uncertainty, we analyse output of a numerical firn model run over 1960–2014. Results show a spatially variable response of the ice sheet to increasing melt and an upward migration of aquifers.
Meri M. Ruppel, Joana Soares, Jean-Charles Gallet, Elisabeth Isaksson, Tõnu Martma, Jonas Svensson, Jack Kohler, Christina A. Pedersen, Sirkku Manninen, Atte Korhola, and Johan Ström
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12779–12795, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12779-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12779-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) deposition enhances Arctic warming and melting. We present Svalbard ice core BC data from 2005 to 2015, comparing the results with chemical transport model data. The ice core and modelled BC deposition trends clearly deviate from measured and observed atmospheric concentration trends, and thus meteorological processes such as precipitation and scavenging efficiency seem to have a stronger influence on the BC deposition trend than BC emission or atmospheric concentration trends.
Christopher J. L. D'Amboise, Karsten Müller, Laurent Oxarango, Samuel Morin, and Thomas V. Schuler
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 3547–3566, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3547-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3547-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new water percolation routine added to the Crocus model. The new routine is physically based, describing motion of water through a layered snowpack considering capillary-driven and gravity flow. We tested the routine on two data sets. Wet-snow layers were able to reach higher saturations than the empirical routine. Meaningful applicability is limited until new and better parameterizations of water retention are developed, and feedbacks are adjusted to handle higher saturations.
Johannes Jakob Fürst, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Toby J. Benham, Julian A. Dowdeswell, Mariusz Grabiec, Francisco Navarro, Rickard Pettersson, Geir Moholdt, Christopher Nuth, Björn Sass, Kjetil Aas, Xavier Fettweis, Charlotte Lang, Thorsten Seehaus, and Matthias Braun
The Cryosphere, 11, 2003–2032, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2003-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2003-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
For the large majority of glaciers and ice caps, there is no information on the thickness of the ice cover. Any attempt to predict glacier demise under climatic warming and to estimate the future contribution to sea-level rise is limited as long as the glacier thickness is not well constrained. Here, we present a two-step mass-conservation approach for mapping ice thickness. Measurements are naturally reproduced. The reliability is readily assessible from a complementary map of error estimates.
Laurence Gray, David Burgess, Luke Copland, Thorben Dunse, Kirsty Langley, and Geir Moholdt
The Cryosphere, 11, 1041–1058, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1041-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1041-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We use surface height data from west Greenland and Devon Ice Cap to check the performance of the new interferometric mode of the ESA CryoSat radar altimeter. The detailed height comparison allows an improved system calibration and processing methodology and measurement of the height of supraglacial lakes which form each summer around the periphery of the Greenland Ice Cap. The advantages of the SARIn mode suggest that future satellite radar altimeters for glacial ice should use this technology.
Daniel Farinotti, Douglas J. Brinkerhoff, Garry K. C. Clarke, Johannes J. Fürst, Holger Frey, Prateek Gantayat, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Claire Girard, Matthias Huss, Paul W. Leclercq, Andreas Linsbauer, Horst Machguth, Carlos Martin, Fabien Maussion, Mathieu Morlighem, Cyrille Mosbeux, Ankur Pandit, Andrea Portmann, Antoine Rabatel, RAAJ Ramsankaran, Thomas J. Reerink, Olivier Sanchez, Peter A. Stentoft, Sangita Singh Kumari, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Brian Anderson, Toby Benham, Daniel Binder, Julian A. Dowdeswell, Andrea Fischer, Kay Helfricht, Stanislav Kutuzov, Ivan Lavrentiev, Robert McNabb, G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, Huilin Li, and Liss M. Andreassen
The Cryosphere, 11, 949–970, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-949-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-949-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
ITMIX – the Ice Thickness Models Intercomparison eXperiment – was the first coordinated performance assessment for models inferring glacier ice thickness from surface characteristics. Considering 17 different models and 21 different test cases, we show that although solutions of individual models can differ considerably, an ensemble average can yield uncertainties in the order of 10 ± 24 % the mean ice thickness. Ways forward for improving such estimates are sketched.
Luc Girod, Christopher Nuth, Andreas Kääb, Bernd Etzelmüller, and Jack Kohler
The Cryosphere, 11, 827–840, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-827-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-827-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
While gathering data on a changing environment is often a costly and complicated endeavour, it is also the backbone of all research. What if one could measure elevation change by just strapping a camera and a hiking GPS under an helicopter or a small airplane used for transportation and gather data on the ground bellow the flight path? In this article, we present a way to do exactly that and show an example survey where it helped compute the volume of ice lost by a glacier in Svalbard.
Harry Zekollari, Philippe Huybrechts, Brice Noël, Willem Jan van de Berg, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 11, 805–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-805-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-805-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In this study the dynamics of the world’s northernmost ice cap are investigated with a 3-D ice flow model. Under 1961–1990 climatic conditions
an ice cap similar to the observed one is obtained, with comparable geometry and surface velocities. The southern part of the ice cap is very unstable,
and under early-21st-century climatic conditions this part of the ice cap fully disappears. In a projected warmer and wetter climate the ice cap will at
first steepen, before eventually disappearing.
Thomas Schellenberger, Thorben Dunse, Andreas Kääb, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Jon Ove Hagen, and Carleen H. Reijmer
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2017-5, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2017-5, 2017
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Basin-3, NE-Svalbard, was still surging with 10 m d-1 in July 2016. After a speed peak of 18.8 m d-1 in Dec 2012/Jan 2013, speed-ups are overlying the fast flow every summer. The glacier is massively calving icebergs (5.2 Gt yr-1 ~ 2 L drinking water for every human being daily!) which in the same order of magnitude as all other Svalbard glaciers together.
Since autumn 2015 also Basin-2 is surging with maximum velocities of 8.7 m d-1, an advance of more than 2 km and a mass loss of 0.7 Gt yr-1.
Torbjørn Ims Østby, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Jon Ove Hagen, Regine Hock, Jack Kohler, and Carleen H. Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 11, 191–215, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-191-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present modelled climatic mass balance for all glaciers in Svalbard for the period 1957–2014 at 1 km resolution using a coupled surface energy balance and snowpack model, thereby closing temporal and spatial gaps in direct and geodetic mass balance estimates.
Supporting previous studies, our results indicate increased mass loss over the period.
A detailed analysis of the involved energy fluxes reveals that increased mass loss is caused by atmospheric warming further amplified by feedbacks.
Carmen P. Vega, Elisabeth Schlosser, Dmitry V. Divine, Jack Kohler, Tõnu Martma, Anja Eichler, Margit Schwikowski, and Elisabeth Isaksson
The Cryosphere, 10, 2763–2777, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2763-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2763-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Surface mass balance and water stable isotopes from firn cores on three ice rises at Fimbul Ice Shelf are reported. The results suggest that the ice rises are suitable sites for the retrieval of longer firn and ice cores. The first deuterium excess data for the area suggests a possible role of seasonal moisture transport changes on the annual isotopic signal. Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns most likely provide the dominant influence on water stable isotope ratios at the sites.
Brice Noël, Willem Jan van de Berg, Horst Machguth, Stef Lhermitte, Ian Howat, Xavier Fettweis, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 10, 2361–2377, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2361-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2361-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We present a 1 km resolution data set (1958–2015) of daily Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB), statistically downscaled from the data of RACMO2.3 at 11 km using elevation dependence, precipitation and bare ice albedo corrections. The data set resolves Greenland narrow ablation zones and local outlet glaciers, and shows more realistic SMB patterns, owing to enhanced runoff at the ice sheet margins. An evaluation of the product against SMB measurements shows improved agreement.
Michiel R. van den Broeke, Ellyn M. Enderlin, Ian M. Howat, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Brice P. Y. Noël, Willem Jan van de Berg, Erik van Meijgaard, and Bert Wouters
The Cryosphere, 10, 1933–1946, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1933-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We present recent (1958–2015) mass balance time series for the Greenland ice sheet. We show that recent mass loss is caused by a combination of increased surface meltwater runoff and solid ice discharge. Most meltwater above 2000 m a.s.l. refreezes in the cold firn and does not leave the ice sheet, but this goes at the expense of firn heating and densifying. In spite of a temporary rebound in 2013, it appears that the ice sheet remains in a state of persistent mass loss.
Kjersti Gisnås, Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Kjetil Melvold, and Bernd Etzelmüller
The Cryosphere, 10, 1201–1215, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1201-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1201-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In wind exposed areas snow redistribution results in large spatial variability in ground temperatures. In these areas, the ground temperature of a grid cell must be determined based on the distribution, and not the average, of snow depths. We employ distribution functions of snow in a regional permafrost model, showing highly improved representation of ground temperatures. By including snow distributions, we find the permafrost area to be nearly twice as large as what is modelled without.
Andreas Bech Mikkelsen, Alun Hubbard, Mike MacFerrin, Jason Eric Box, Sam H. Doyle, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Bent Hasholt, Hannah L. Bailey, Katrin Lindbäck, and Rickard Pettersson
The Cryosphere, 10, 1147–1159, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1147-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1147-2016, 2016
Kjetil S. Aas, Thorben Dunse, Emily Collier, Thomas V. Schuler, Terje K. Berntsen, Jack Kohler, and Bartłomiej Luks
The Cryosphere, 10, 1089–1104, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1089-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1089-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
A high-resolution, coupled atmosphere--climatic mass balance (CMB) model is applied to Svalbard for the period 2003 to 2013. The mean CMB during this period is negative but displays large spatial and temporal variations. Comparison with observations on different scales shows a good overall model performance except for one particular glacier, where wind strongly affects the spatial patterns of CMB. The model also shows considerable sensitivity to model resolution, especially on local scales.
Carmen P. Vega, Veijo A. Pohjola, Emilie Beaudon, Björn Claremar, Ward J. J. van Pelt, Rickard Pettersson, Elisabeth Isaksson, Tõnu Martma, Margit Schwikowski, and Carl E. Bøggild
The Cryosphere, 10, 961–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-961-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-961-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
To quantify post-depositional relocation of major ions by meltwater in snow and firn at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, consecutive ice cores drilled at this site were used to construct a synthetic core. The relocation length of most of the ions was on the order of 1 m between 2007 and 2010. Considering the ionic relocation lengths and annual melt percentages, we estimate that the atmospheric ionic signal remains preserved in recently drilled Lomonosovfonna ice cores at an annual or bi-annual resolution.
J. M. van Wessem, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, C. H. Reijmer, W. J. van de Berg, M. R. van den Broeke, N. E. Barrand, E. R. Thomas, J. Turner, J. Wuite, T. A. Scambos, and E. van Meijgaard
The Cryosphere, 10, 271–285, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-271-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-271-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the first high-resolution (5.5 km) modelled estimate of surface mass balance (SMB) over the period 1979–2014 for the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). Precipitation (snowfall and rain) largely determines the SMB, and is exceptionally high over the western mountain slopes, with annual values > 4 m water equivalent. Snowmelt is widespread over the AP, but only runs off into the ocean at some locations: the Larsen B,C, and Wilkins ice shelves, and along the north-western mountains.
T. Schellenberger, T. Dunse, A. Kääb, J. Kohler, and C. H. Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 9, 2339–2355, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Kronebreen and Kongsbreen are among the fastest flowing glaciers on Svalbard, and surface speeds reached up to 3.2m d-1 at Kronebreen in summer 2013 and 2.7m d-1 at Kongsbreen in late autumn 2012 as retrieved from SAR satellite data. Both glaciers retreated significantly during the observation period, Kongsbreen up to 1800m or 2.5km2 and Kronebreen up to 850m or 2.8km2. Both glaciers are important contributors to the total dynamic mass loss from the Svalbard archipelago.
P. Kuipers Munneke, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, B. P. Y. Noël, I. M. Howat, J. E. Box, E. Mosley-Thompson, J. R. McConnell, K. Steffen, J. T. Harper, S. B. Das, and M. R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 9, 2009–2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2009-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2009-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The snow layer on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet is changing: it is thickening in the high and cold interior due to increased snowfall, while it is thinning around the margins. The marginal thinning is caused by compaction, and by more melt.
This knowledge is important: there are satellites that measure volume change of the ice sheet. It can be caused by increased ice discharge, or by compaction of the snow layer. Here, we quantify the latter, so that we can translate volume to mass change.
L. Gray, D. Burgess, L. Copland, M. N. Demuth, T. Dunse, K. Langley, and T. V. Schuler
The Cryosphere, 9, 1895–1913, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1895-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1895-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We show that the Cryosat (CS) radar altimeter can measure elevation change on a variety of Arctic ice caps. With the frequent coverage of Cryosat it is even possible to track summer surface height loss due to extensive melt; no other satellite altimeter has been able to do this. However, we also show that under cold conditions there is a bias between the surface and Cryosat detected elevation which varies with the conditions of the upper snow and firn layers.
S. Westermann, T. I. Østby, K. Gisnås, T. V. Schuler, and B. Etzelmüller
The Cryosphere, 9, 1303–1319, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We use remotely sensed land surface temperature and land cover in conjunction with air temperature and snowfall from a reanalysis product as input for a simple permafrost model. The scheme is applied to the permafrost regions bordering the North Atlantic. A comparison with ground temperatures in boreholes suggests a modeling accuracy of 2 to 2.5 °C.
S. de la Peña, I. M. Howat, P. W. Nienow, M. R. van den Broeke, E. Mosley-Thompson, S. F. Price, D. Mair, B. Noël, and A. J. Sole
The Cryosphere, 9, 1203–1211, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1203-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1203-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents an assessment of changes in the near-surface structure of the accumulation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet caused by an increase of melt at higher elevations in the last decade, especially during the unusually warm years of 2010 and 2012. The increase in melt and firn densification complicate the interpretation of changes in the ice volume, and the observed increase in firn ice content may reduce the important meltwater buffering capacity of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Y. Sjöberg, P. Marklund, R. Pettersson, and S. W. Lyon
The Cryosphere, 9, 465–478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-465-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-465-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost peatlands are hydrological and biogeochemical hotspots in discontinuous permafrost areas. We estimate the depths to the permafrost table surface and base across a peatland in northern Sweden using ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography. Seasonal frost tables, taliks, and the permafrost base could be detected. The results highlight the added value of combining techniques for assessing distributions of permafrost in the rapidly changing sporadic permafrost zone.
T. Dunse, T. Schellenberger, J. O. Hagen, A. Kääb, T. V. Schuler, and C. H. Reijmer
The Cryosphere, 9, 197–215, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-197-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-197-2015, 2015
K. Gisnås, S. Westermann, T. V. Schuler, T. Litherland, K. Isaksen, J. Boike, and B. Etzelmüller
The Cryosphere, 8, 2063–2074, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2063-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2063-2014, 2014
M. Schäfer, F. Gillet-Chaulet, R. Gladstone, R. Pettersson, V. A. Pohjola, T. Strozzi, and T. Zwinger
The Cryosphere, 8, 1951–1973, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1951-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1951-2014, 2014
B. Noël, X. Fettweis, W. J. van de Berg, M. R. van den Broeke, and M. Erpicum
The Cryosphere, 8, 1871–1883, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1871-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1871-2014, 2014
K. Lindbäck, R. Pettersson, S. H. Doyle, C. Helanow, P. Jansson, S. S. Kristensen, L. Stenseng, R. Forsberg, and A. L. Hubbard
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 6, 331–338, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-6-331-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-6-331-2014, 2014
H. Fréville, E. Brun, G. Picard, N. Tatarinova, L. Arnaud, C. Lanconelli, C. Reijmer, and M. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 8, 1361–1373, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1361-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1361-2014, 2014
M. Engelhardt, T. V. Schuler, and L. M. Andreassen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 511–523, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-511-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-511-2014, 2014
J. M. van Wessem, C. H. Reijmer, J. T. M. Lenaerts, W. J. van de Berg, M. R. van den Broeke, and E. van Meijgaard
The Cryosphere, 8, 125–135, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-125-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-125-2014, 2014
C. Nuth, J. Kohler, M. König, A. von Deschwanden, J. O. Hagen, A. Kääb, G. Moholdt, and R. Pettersson
The Cryosphere, 7, 1603–1621, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1603-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1603-2013, 2013
A. P. Ahlstrøm, S. B. Andersen, M. L. Andersen, H. Machguth, F. M. Nick, I. Joughin, C. H. Reijmer, R. S. W. van de Wal, J. P. Merryman Boncori, J. E. Box, M. Citterio, D. van As, R. S. Fausto, and A. Hubbard
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 277–287, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-277-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-277-2013, 2013
W. J. J. van Pelt, J. Oerlemans, C. H. Reijmer, R. Pettersson, V. A. Pohjola, E. Isaksson, and D. Divine
The Cryosphere, 7, 987–1006, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-987-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-987-2013, 2013
S. Westermann, T. V. Schuler, K. Gisnås, and B. Etzelmüller
The Cryosphere, 7, 719–739, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-719-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-719-2013, 2013
S. H. Doyle, A. L. Hubbard, C. F. Dow, G. A. Jones, A. Fitzpatrick, A. Gusmeroli, B. Kulessa, K. Lindback, R. Pettersson, and J. E. Box
The Cryosphere, 7, 129–140, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-129-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-129-2013, 2013
M. A. G. den Ouden, C. H. Reijmer, V. Pohjola, R. S. W. van de Wal, J. Oerlemans, and W. Boot
The Cryosphere, 4, 593–604, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-593-2010, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-4-593-2010, 2010
Related subject area
Discipline: Glaciers | Subject: Climate Interactions
Triggers of the 2022 Larsen B multi-year landfast sea ice breakout and initial glacier response
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields
On the attribution of industrial-era glacier mass loss to anthropogenic climate change
Distributed summer air temperatures across mountain glaciers in the south-east Tibetan Plateau: temperature sensitivity and comparison with existing glacier datasets
Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River basin, in the semiarid Andes of central Chile
Impact of warming shelf waters on ice mélange and terminus retreat at a large SE Greenland glacier
Naomi E. Ochwat, Ted A. Scambos, Alison F. Banwell, Robert S. Anderson, Michelle L. Maclennan, Ghislain Picard, Julia A. Shates, Sebastian Marinsek, Liliana Margonari, Martin Truffer, and Erin C. Pettit
The Cryosphere, 18, 1709–1731, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1709-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1709-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
On the Antarctic Peninsula, there is a small bay that had sea ice fastened to the shoreline (
fast ice) for over a decade. The fast ice stabilized the glaciers that fed into the ocean. In January 2022, the fast ice broke away. Using satellite data we found that this was because of low sea ice concentrations and a high long-period ocean wave swell. We find that the glaciers have responded to this event by thinning, speeding up, and retreating by breaking off lots of icebergs at remarkable rates.
Tomás Carrasco-Escaff, Maisa Rojas, René Darío Garreaud, Deniz Bozkurt, and Marius Schaefer
The Cryosphere, 17, 1127–1149, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we investigate the interplay between climate and the Patagonian Icefields. By modeling the glacioclimatic conditions of the southern Andes, we found that the annual variations in net surface mass change experienced by these icefields are mainly controlled by annual variations in the air pressure field observed near the Drake Passage. Little dependence on main modes of variability was found, suggesting the Drake Passage as a key region for understanding the Patagonian Icefields.
Gerard H. Roe, John Erich Christian, and Ben Marzeion
The Cryosphere, 15, 1889–1905, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1889-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1889-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The worldwide retreat of mountain glaciers and consequent loss of ice mass is one of the most obvious signs of a changing climate and has significant implications for the hydrology and natural hazards in mountain landscapes. Consistent with our understanding of the human role in temperature change, we demonstrate that the central estimate of the size of the human-caused mass loss is essentially 100 % of the observed loss. This assessment resolves some important inconsistencies in the literature.
Thomas E. Shaw, Wei Yang, Álvaro Ayala, Claudio Bravo, Chuanxi Zhao, and Francesca Pellicciotti
The Cryosphere, 15, 595–614, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-595-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-595-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Near surface air temperature (Ta) is important for simulating the melting of glaciers, though its variability in space and time on mountain glaciers is still poorly understood. We combine new Ta observations on glacier in Tibet with several glacier datasets around the world to explore the applicability of an existing method to estimate glacier Ta based upon glacier flow distance. We make a first step at generalising a method and highlight the remaining unknowns for this field of research.
Álvaro Ayala, David Farías-Barahona, Matthias Huss, Francesca Pellicciotti, James McPhee, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 14, 2005–2027, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2005-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2005-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We reconstruct past glacier changes (1955–2016) and estimate the committed ice loss in the Maipo River basin (semi-arid Andes of Chile), with a focus on glacier runoff. We found that glacier volume has decreased by one-fifth since 1955 and that glacier runoff shows a sequence of decreasing maxima starting in a severe drought in 1968. As meltwater originating from the Andes plays a key role in this dry region, our results can be useful for developing adaptation or mitigation strategies.
Suzanne L. Bevan, Adrian J. Luckman, Douglas I. Benn, Tom Cowton, and Joe Todd
The Cryosphere, 13, 2303–2315, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2303-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Kangerlussuaq Glacier in Greenland retreated significantly in the early 2000s and typified the response of calving glaciers to climate change. Satellite images show that it has recently retreated even further. The current retreat follows the appearance of extremely warm surface waters on the continental shelf during the summer of 2016, which likely entered the fjord and caused the rigid mass of sea ice and icebergs, which normally inhibits calving, to melt and break up.
Cited articles
Aas, K. S., Dunse, T., Collier, E., Schuler, T. V., Berntsen, T. K., Kohler, J., and Luks, B.: The climatic mass balance of Svalbard glaciers: a 10-year simulation with a coupled atmosphere–glacier mass balance model, The Cryosphere, 10, 1089–1104, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1089-2016, 2016. a, b, c
AMAP: Snow, water, ice and permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA), Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), Oslo, Norway, 2017. a
Beaudon, E., Moore, J. C., Martma, T., Pohjola, V. A., Van de Wal, R. S., Kohler, J., and Isaksson, E.: Lomonosovfonna and Holtedahlfonna ice cores reveal east–west disparities of the Spitsbergen environment since AD 1700, J. Glaciol., 59, 1069–1083, https://doi.org/10.3189/2013JoG12J203, 2013. a
Bevan, S. L., Luckman, A., Hubbard, B., Kulessa, B., Ashmore, D., Kuipers Munneke, P., O'Leary, M., Booth, A., Sevestre, H., and McGrath, D.: Centuries of intense surface melt on Larsen C Ice Shelf, The Cryosphere, 11, 2743–2753, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2743-2017, 2017. a
Bezeau, P., Sharp, M., Burgess, D., and Gascon, G.: Firn profile changes in response to extreme 21st-century melting at Devon Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada, J. Glaciol., 59, 981–991, https://doi.org/10.3189/2013JoG12J208, 2013. a
Bintanja, R. and Andry, O.: Towards a rain-dominated Arctic, Nat. Clim. Change, 7, 263–267, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3240, 2017. a
Bintanja, R. and Selten, F. M.: Future increases in Arctic precipitation linked to local evaporation and sea-ice retreat, Nature, 509, 479–482, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13259, 2014. a
Bintanja, R. and Van Der Linden, E. C.: The changing seasonal climate in the Arctic, Scientific Reports, 3, 1556, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01556, 2013. a
Björnsson, H., Gjessing, Y., Hamran, S.-E., Hagen, J. O., LiestøL, O., Pálsson, F., and Erlingsson, B.: The thermal regime of sub-polar glaciers mapped by multi-frequency radio-echo sounding, J. Glaciol., 42, 23–32, https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000030495, 1996. a
Bougamont, M., Bamber, J. L., and Greuell, W.: A surface mass balance model for the Greenland Ice Sheet, J. Geophys. Res., 110, F04018, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JF000348, 2005. a
Christianson, K., Kohler, J., Alley, R. B., Nuth, C., and van Pelt, W. J. J.: Dynamic perennial firn aquifer on an Arctic glacier, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 1418–1426, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL062806, 2015. a
Cogley, J. G., Hock, R., Rasmussen, L. A., Arendt, A. A., Bauder, A., Braithwaite, R. J., Jansson, M., Kaser, G., Möller, M., Nicholson, L., and Zemp, M.: Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms, IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology No. 86, IACS Contribution No. 2, UNESCO-IHP, Paris, 2011. a, b
Cox, C., Humphrey, N., and Harper, J.: Quantifying meltwater refreezing along a transect of sites on the Greenland ice sheet, The Cryosphere, 9, 691–701, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-691-2015, 2015. a
Day, J. J., Bamber, J. L., Valdes, P. J., and Kohler, J.: The impact of a seasonally ice free Arctic Ocean on the temperature, precipitation and surface mass balance of Svalbard, The Cryosphere, 6, 35–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-35-2012, 2012. a
Deschamps-Berger, C., Nuth, C., Van Pelt, W. J. J., Berthier, E., Kohler, J., and Altena, B.: Closing the mass budget of a tidewater glacier: the example of Kronebreen, Svalbard, J. Glaciol., 65, 136–148, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.98, 2019. a, b
Divine, D. V. and Dick, C.: Historical variability of sea ice edge position in the Nordic Seas, J. Geophys. Res., 111, C01001, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JC002851, 2006. a
Elsberg, D. H., Harrison, W. D., Echelmeyer, K. A., and Krimmel, R. M.: Quantifying the effects of climate and surface change on glacier mass balance, J. Glaciol., 47, 649–658, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756501781831783, 2001. a
Førland, E. J. and Hanssen-Bauer, I.: Increased precipitation in the
Norwegian Arctic: True or false?, Climatic Change, 46, 485–509, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005613304674, 2000. a, b
Førland, E. J., Benestad, R., Hanssen-Bauer, I., Haugen, J. E., and Skaugen, T. E.: Temperature and precipitation development at Svalbard 1900–2100, Adv. Meteorol., 2011, 893790, https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/893790, 2011. a, b
Fürst, J. J., Navarro, F., Gillet-Chaulet, F., Huss, M., Moholdt, G., Fettweis, X., Lang, C., Seehaus, T., Ai, S., Benham, T. J., Benn, D. I., Björnsson, H., Dowdeswell, J. A., Grabiec, M., Kohler, J., Lavrentiev, I., Lindbäck, K., Melvold, K., Pettersson, R., Rippin, D., Saintenoy, A., Sánchez-Gámez, P., Schuler, T. V., Sevestre, H., Vasilenko, E., and Braun, M. H.: The Ice-Free Topography of Svalbard, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 11760–11769, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079734, 2018. a
Grabiec, M., Puczko, D., Budzik, T., and Gajek, G.: Snow distribution patterns on Svalbard glaciers derived from radio-echo soundings, Pol. Polar Res., 32, 393–421, https://doi.org/10.2478/v10183-011-0026-4, 2011. a, b
Grabiec, M., Jania, J., Puczko, D., Kolondra, L., and Budzik, T.: Surface and bed morphology of Hansbreen, a tidewater glacier in Spitsbergen, Pol. Polar Res., 33, 111–138, https://doi.org/10.2478/v10183-012-0010-7, 2012. a
Hagen, J., Melvold, K., Eiken, T., Isaksson, E., and Lefauconnier, B.: Mass balance methods on Kongsvegen, Svalbard, Geografiska Annaler, Series A: Physical Geography, 81, 593–601, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0459.00087, 1999. a
Hagen, J. O., Kohler, J., Melvold, K., and Winther, J. G.: Glaciers in Svalbard: Mass balance, runoff and freshwater flux, Polar Res., https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v22i2.6452, 2003. a, b
Hansen, B. B., Aanes, R., Herfindal, I., Kohler, J., Sæther, B. E., and Oli, M. K.: Climate, icing, and wild arctic reindeer: Past relationships and future prospects, Ecology, 92, 1917–1923, https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0095.1, 2011. a
Hansen, B. B., Isaksen, K., Benestad, R. E., Kohler, J., Pedersen, Å., Loe, L. E., Coulson, S. J., Larsen, J. O., and Varpe, Ø.: Warmer and wetter winters: Characteristics and implications of an extreme weather event in the High Arctic, Environ. Res. Lett., 9, 114021, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/11/114021, 2014. a
Hanssen-Bauer, I. and Førland, E. J.: Long-term trends in precipitation and temperature in the Norwegian Arctic: Can they be explained by changes in
atmospheric circulation patterns?, Clim. Res., 10, 143–153, https://doi.org/10.3354/cr010143, 1998. a
How, P., Benn, D. I., Hulton, N. R. J., Hubbard, B., Luckman, A., Sevestre, H., van Pelt, W. J. J., Lindbäck, K., Kohler, J., and Boot, W.: Rapidly changing subglacial hydrological pathways at a tidewater glacier revealed through simultaneous observations of water pressure, supraglacial lakes, meltwater plumes and surface velocities, The Cryosphere, 11, 2691–2710, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2691-2017, 2017. a
Hubbard, B., Luckman, A., Ashmore, D. W., Bevan, S., Kulessa, B., Kuipers Munneke, P., Philippe, M., Jansen, D., Booth, A., Sevestre, H., Tison, J.-L., O'Leary, M., and Rutt, I.: Massive subsurface ice formed by refreezing of ice-shelf melt ponds, Nat. Commun., 7, 11897, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11897, 2016. a
IPCC: Summary for policymakers, in: Climate Change 2013 – The Physical Science Basis, edited by: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004, 2014. a
Jaedicke, C. and Gauer, P.: The influence of drifting snow on the location of glaciers on western Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Ann. Glaciol., 42,
237–242, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756405781812628, 2005. a
Karner, F., Obleitner, F., Krismer, T., Kohler, J., and Greuell, W.: A decade of energy and mass balance investigations on the glacier Kongsvegen, Svalbard, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 3986–4000, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD018342, 2013. a, b
Köhler, A., Maupin, V., Nuth, C., and van Pelt, W.: Characterization of seasonal glacial seismicity from a single-station on-ice record at Holtedahlfonna, Svalbard, Ann. Glaciol., 60, 23–36, https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.15, 2019. a
Kohler, J. and Aanes, R.: Effect of winter snow and ground-icing on a Svalbard reindeer population: results of a simple snowpack model, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 36, 333–341, https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2004)036[0333:EOWSAG]2.0.CO;2, 2009. a
Kohler, J., James, T. D., Murray, T., Nuth, C., Brandt, O., Barrand, N. E., Aas, H. F., and Luckman, A.: Acceleration in thinning rate on western Svalbard glaciers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L18502, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030681, 2007. a
Kohler, J., Hudson, S., and Obleitner, F.: Automatic weather station data from Kongsvegen, Ny-Ålesund, Data set, Norwegian Polar Institute, https://doi.org/10.21334/npolar.2017.5dc31930, 2017. a
König, M., Kohler, J., and Nuth, C.: Glacier Area Outlines – Svalbard, Data set, Norwegian Polar Institute, https://doi.org/10.21334/npolar.2013.89f430f8, 2013. a
König, M., Nuth, C., Kohler, J., Moholdt, G., and Pettersen, R.: A digital glacier database for Svalbard, in: Global Land Ice Measurements from Space, Springer Praxis Books, Berlin, Heidelberg, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79818-7_10, 2014. a, b
Kuipers Munneke, P., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., van den Broeke, M. R., van Angelen, J. H., and Forster, R. R.: Explaining the presence of perennial liquid water bodies in the firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 476–483, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058389, 2014. a
Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Helsen, M. M., and van den Broeke, M. R.: An improved semi-empirical model for the densification of Antarctic firn, The Cryosphere, 5, 809–819, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-809-2011, 2011. a
Machguth, H., MacFerrin, M., van As, D., Box, J. E., Charalampidis, C., Colgan, W., Fausto, R. S., Meijer, H. A. J., Mosley-Thompson, E., and van de Wal, R. S. W.: Greenland meltwater storage in firn limited by near-surface ice formation, Nat. Clim. Change, 6, 390–393, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2899, 2016. a
Marchenko, S., Pohjola, V. A., Pettersson, R., Van Pelt, W. J. J., Vega, C. P., Machguth, H., Boggild, C. E., and Isaksson, E.: A plot-scale study of firn stratigraphy at Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, using ice cores, borehole video and GPR surveys in 2012–14, J. Glaciol., 63, 67–78, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.118, 2017a. a
Marchenko, S., Van Pelt, W. J. J., Claremar, B., Pohjola, V., Pettersson, R., Machguth, H., and Reijmer, C.: Parameterizing deep water percolation improves subsurface temperature simulations by a multilayer firn model, Front. Earth Sci., 5, 16, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00016, 2017b. a, b, c, d, e, f
Moholdt, G., Nuth, C., Hagen, J. O., and Kohler, J.: Recent elevation changes of Svalbard glaciers derived from ICESat laser altimetry, Remote Sens. Environ., 114, 2756–2767, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2010.06.008, 2010. a, b
Möller, M. and Kohler, J.: Differing climatic mass balance evolution across Svalbard glacier regions over 1900–2010, Front. Earth Sci., 6, 128, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00128, 2018. a, b
Möller, M., Finkelnburg, R., Braun, M., Scherer, D., and Schneider, C.: Variability of the climatic mass balance of Vestfonna ice cap, northeastern Svalbard, 1979–2011, Ann. Glaciol., 54, 254–264, https://doi.org/10.3189/2013AoG63A407, 2013. a
Möller, M., Obleitner, F., Reijmer, C. H., Pohjola, V. A., Głowacki, P., and Kohler, J.: Adjustment of regional climate model output for modeling the climatic mass balance of all glaciers on Svalbard, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 5411–5429, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024380, 2016. a, b
Noël, B., Van de Berg, W. J., Lhermitte, S., Wouters, B., Machguth, H., Howat, I., Citterio, M., Moholdt, G., Lenaerts, J. T. M., and van den Broeke, M. R.: A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland's glaciers and ice caps, Nat. Commun., 8, 14730, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14730, 2017. a
Noël, B., Van de Berg, W. J., Lhermitte, S., Wouters, B., Schaffer, N., and Van den Broeke, M. R.: Six Decades of Glacial Mass Loss in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 123, 1430–1449, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JF004304, 2018. a
Nordli, Ø., Przybylak, R., Ogilvie, A. E., and Isaksen, K.: Long-term temperature trends and variability on Spitsbergen: The extended Svalbard airport temperature series, 1898–2012, Polar Res., 33, 21349, https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v33.21349, 2014. a, b
Norwegian Polar Institute: Terrengmodell Svalbard (S0 Terrengmodell), Data
set, Norwegian Polar Institute, https://doi.org/10.21334/npolar.2014.dce53a47, 2014. a
Nuth, C., Moholdt, G., Kohler, J., Hagen, J. O., and Kääb, A.: Svalbard glacier elevation changes and contribution to sea level rise,
J. Geophys. Res., 115, F01008, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JF001223, 2010. a
Nuth, C., Schuler, T. V., Kohler, J., Altena, B., and Hagen, J. O.: Estimating the long-term calving flux of Kronebreen, Svalbard from geodetic elevation changes and mass-balance modelling, J. Glaciol., 58, 119–133, https://doi.org/10.3189/2012JoG11J036, 2012. a, b
Nuth, C., Kohler, J., König, M., von Deschwanden, A., Hagen, J. O., Kääb, A., Moholdt, G., and Pettersson, R.: Decadal changes from a multi-temporal glacier inventory of Svalbard, The Cryosphere, 7, 1603–1621, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1603-2013, 2013. a
Oerlemans, J. and Grisogono, B.: Glacier winds and parameterisation of the related surface heat fluxes, Tellus A, 54, 440–452, https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v54i5.12164, 2002. a
Oerlemans, J. and Knap, W. H.: A 1 year record of global radiation and albedo in the ablation zone of Morteratschgletscher, Switzerland, J. Glaciol., 44, 231–238, https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000002574, 1998. a
Pettersson, R.: Dynamics of the cold surface layer of polythermal Storglaciären, Sweden, PhD thesis, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, 2004. a
Pohjola, V. A., Martma, T. A., Meijer, H. A. J., Moore, J. C., Isaksson, E., Vaikmäe, R., and van de Wal, R. S.: Reconstruction of three centuries of annual accumulation rates based on the record of stable isotopes of water from Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, Ann. Glaciol., 35, 57–62, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756402781816753, 2002. a
Pramanik, A., Van Pelt, W. J. J., Kohler, J., and Schuler, T. V.: Simulating climatic mass balance, seasonal snow development and associated freshwater runoff in the Kongsfjord basin, Svalbard (1980–2016), J.
Glaciol., 64, 943–956, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2018.80, 2018. a, b, c, d
Reistad, M., Breivik, Ø., Haakenstad, H., Aarnes, O. J., Furevik, B. R., and Bidlot, J. R.: A high-resolution hindcast of wind and waves for the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea, J. Geophys. Res., 116, C05019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006402, 2011. a, b
Rye, C. J., Willis, I. C., Arnold, N. S., and Kohler, J.: On the need for
automated multiobjective optimization and uncertainty estimation of glacier
mass balance models, J. Geophys. Res., 117, F02005,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002184, 2012. a
Schuler, T. V., Dunse, T., Østby, T. I., and Hagen, J. O.: Meteorological conditions on an Arctic ice cap-8 years of automatic weather station data from Austfonna, Svalbard, Int. J. Climatol., 34, 2047–2058, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3821, 2014. a
Serreze, M. C. and Barry, R. G.: Processes and impacts of Arctic amplification: A research synthesis, Global Planet. Change, 77, 85–96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.03.004, 2011. a
Uppala, S. M., Kållberg, P. W., Simmons, A. J., Andrae, U., Bechtold, V. D. C., Fiorino, M., Gibson, J. K., Haseler, J., Hernandez, A., Kelly, G. A., Li, X., Onogi, K., Saarinen, S., Sokka, N., Allan, R. P., Andersson, E., Arpe, K., Balmaseda, M. A., Beljaars, A. C. M., Berg, L. V. D., Bidlot, J., Bormann, N., Caires, S., Chevallier, F., Dethof, A., Dragosavac, M., Fisher, M., Fuentes, M., Hagemann, S., Hólm, E., Hoskins, B. J., Isaksen, L., Janssen, P. A. E. M., Jenne, R., Mcnally, A. P., Mahfouf, J.-F., Morcrette, J.-J., Rayner, N. A., Saunders, R. W., Simon, P., Sterl, A., Trenberth, K. E., Untch, A., Vasiljevic, D., Viterbo, P., and Woollen, J.: The ERA-40 re-analysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 131, 2961–3012, https://doi.org/10.1256/qj.04.176, 2005. a
Vallot, D., Pettersson, R., Luckman, A., Benn, D. I., Zwinger, T., Van Pelt, W. J. J., Kohler, J., Schäfer, M., Claremar, B., and Hulton, N. R.: Basal dynamics of Kronebreen, a fast-flowing tidewater glacier in Svalbard: non-local spatio-temporal response to water input, J. Glaciol., 63, 1012–1024, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.69, 2017. a
Vallot, D., Åström, J., Zwinger, T., Pettersson, R., Everett, A., Benn, D. I., Luckman, A., van Pelt, W. J. J., Nick, F., and Kohler, J.: Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard, The Cryosphere, 12, 609–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-609-2018, 2018.
a
Van de Wal, R. S., Mulvaney, R., Isaksson, E., Moore, J. C., Pinglot, J. F., Pohjola, V. A., and Thomassen, M. P. A.: Reconstruction of the historical temperature trend from measurements in a medium-length borehole on the Lomonosovfonna plateau, Svalbard, Ann. Glaciol., 35, 371–378, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756402781816979, 2002. a
Van der Wel, L., Streurman, H., Isaksson, E., Helsen, M., Van de Wal, R., Martma, T., Pohjola, V., Moore, J., and Meijer, H.: Using high-resolution tritium profiles to quantify the effects of melt on two Spitsbergen ice cores, J. Glaciol., 57, 1087–1097, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311798843368, 2011. a
van Pelt, W. J. J., Oerlemans, J., Reijmer, C. H., Pohjola, V. A., Pettersson, R., and van Angelen, J. H.: Simulating melt, runoff and refreezing on Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard, using a coupled snow and energy balance model, The Cryosphere, 6, 641–659, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-641-2012, 2012. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k
van Pelt, W. J. J., Pohjola, V. A., Pettersson, R., Ehwald, L. E., Reijmer, C. H., Boot, W., and Jakobs, C. L.: Dynamic response of a High Arctic glacier to melt and runoff variations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 4917–4926, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077252, 2018. a, b, c
van Pelt, W. J. J., Pohjola, V. A., Pettersson, R., Marchenko, S., Kohler, J., Luks, B., Hagen, J. O., Schuler, T. V., Dunse, T., Noël, B., and Reijmer, C. H.: A long-term dataset of climatic mass balance, snow conditions and runoff in Svalbard (1957–2018), https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7836530.v1, 2019. a
Vega, C. P., Pohjola, V. A., Beaudon, E., Claremar, B., van Pelt, W. J. J., Pettersson, R., Isaksson, E., Martma, T., Schwikowski, M., and Bøggild, C. E.: A synthetic ice core approach to estimate ion relocation in an ice field site experiencing periodical melt: a case study on Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, The Cryosphere, 10, 961–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-961-2016, 2016. a
Westermann, S., Boike, J., Langer, M., Schuler, T. V., and Etzelmüller, B.: Modeling the impact of wintertime rain events on the thermal regime of permafrost, The Cryosphere, 5, 945–959, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-945-2011, 2011. a
Winsvold, S. H., Kääb , A., Nuth, C., Andreassen, L. M., van Pelt, W. J. J., and Schellenberger, T.: Using SAR satellite data time series for regional glacier mapping, The Cryosphere, 12, 867–890, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-867-2018, 2018. a
Winther, J.-G., Bruland, O., Sand, K., Gerland, S., Marechal, D., Ivanov, B.,
Głowacki, P., and König, M.: Snow research in Svalbard – An overview, Polar Res., 22, 125–144, https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v22i2.6451, 2003. a, b
Zhang, X., He, J., Zhang, J., Polyakov, I., Gerdes, R., Inoue, J., and Wu, P.: Enhanced poleward moisture transport and amplified northern high-latitude wetting trend, Nat. Clim. Change, 3, 47–51, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1631, 2013. a, b
Short summary
The climate in Svalbard is undergoing amplified change compared to the global mean, which has a strong impact on the climatic mass balance of glaciers and the state of seasonal snow in land areas. In this study we analyze a coupled energy balance–subsurface model dataset, which provides detailed information on distributed climatic mass balance, snow conditions, and runoff across Svalbard between 1957 and 2018.
The climate in Svalbard is undergoing amplified change compared to the global mean, which has a...
