The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 13, issue 10
Articles | Volume 13, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2597-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2597-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 13, issue 10
Research article
 | 
07 Oct 2019
Research article |  | 07 Oct 2019

The surface albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet between 1982 and 2015 from the CLARA-A2 dataset and its relationship to the ice sheet's surface mass balance

Aku Riihelä, Michalea D. King, and Kati Anttila

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2597-2019-supplement

Data sets

CLARA-A2: CM SAF cLoud, Albedo and surface RAdiation dataset from AVHRR data - Edition 2, Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring K.-G. Karlsson, K. Anttila, J. Trentmann, M. Stengel, J. F. Meirink, A. Devasthale, T. Hanschmann, S. Kothe, E. Jääskeläinen, J. Sedlar, N. Benas, G.-J. van Zadelhoff, C. Schlundt, D. Stein, S. Finkensieper, N. Håkansson, R. Hollmann, P. Fuchs, and M. Werscheck https://doi.org/10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/CLARA_AVHRR/V002

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Short summary
We used a 1982–2015 time series of satellite observations to examine changes in surface reflectivity (albedo) of the Greenland Ice Sheet. We found notable decreases in albedo over most of the ice sheet margins in July and August, particularly over the west coast and between 2000 and 2015. The results indicate that significant melt now occurs in areas 50 to 100 m higher up the ice sheet relative to the early 1980s. The albedo decrease is consistent and covarying with modelled ice sheet mass loss.
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