Articles | Volume 13, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-845-2019
© 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-13-845-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Mar 2019
Research article |
| 11 Mar 2019
| 11 Mar 2019
Firn data compilation reveals widespread decrease of firn air content in western Greenland
Department of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark
Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark,
Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Michael MacFerrin
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Horst Machguth
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg,
Switzerland
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
William T. Colgan
Department of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dirk van As
Department of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark
Achim Heilig
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
C. Max Stevens
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle,
WA, USA
Charalampos Charalampidis
Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Munich, Germany
Robert S. Fausto
Department of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark
Elizabeth M. Morris
Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Ellen Mosley-Thompson
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and Department of Geography,
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Lora Koenig
National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder,
CO, USA
Lynn N. Montgomery
National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder,
CO, USA
Clément Miège
Department of Geography, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Sebastian B. Simonsen
DTU Space, National Space Institute, Department of Geodynamics,
Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen
Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark,
Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Jason E. Box
Department of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark
Data sets
Firn air content and firn area deleneation on the Greenland ice sheet B. Vandecrux https://doi.org/10.18739/A2V40JZ6C
Greenland ice sheet firn air content analysis scripts (Version v1.0.1) B. Vandecrux https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2578788
Short summary
The perennial snow, or firn, on the Greenland ice sheet each summer stores part of the meltwater formed at the surface, buffering the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level. We gathered observations of firn air content, indicative of the space available in the firn to retain meltwater, and find that this air content remained stable in cold regions of the firn over the last 65 years but recently decreased significantly in western Greenland.
The perennial snow, or firn, on the Greenland ice sheet each summer stores part of the meltwater...
