Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4379-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4379-2020
Research article
 | 
04 Dec 2020
Research article |  | 04 Dec 2020

Satellite observations of snowfall regimes over the Greenland Ice Sheet

Elin A. McIlhattan, Claire Pettersen, Norman B. Wood, and Tristan S. L'Ecuyer

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Snowfall builds the mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and reduces melt by brightening the surface. We present satellite observations of GrIS snowfall events divided into two regimes: those coincident with ice clouds and those coincident with mixed-phase clouds. Snowfall from ice clouds plays the dominant role in building the GrIS, producing ~ 80 % of total accumulation. The two regimes have similar snowfall frequency in summer, brightening the surface when solar insolation is at its peak.
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