Articles | Volume 15, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1931-2021
© Author(s) 2021. 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-15-1931-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Apr 2021
Research article |
| 21 Apr 2021
| 21 Apr 2021
Spectral attenuation coefficients from measurements of light transmission in bare ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los
Angeles, California, 90027, USA
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, 99354,
USA
Laurence C. Smith
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University,
Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown
University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los
Angeles, California, 90027, USA
Asa K. Rennermalm
Department of Geography, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08854, USA
Marco Tedesco
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, 10025, USA
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10964, USA
Rohi Muthyala
Department of Geography, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08854, USA
Sasha Z. Leidman
Department of Geography, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08854, USA
Samiah E. Moustafa
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University,
Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
Jessica V. Fayne
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los
Angeles, California, 90027, USA
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Short summary
We measured sunlight transmitted into glacier ice to improve models of glacier ice melt and satellite measurements of glacier ice surfaces. We found that very small concentrations of impurities inside the ice increase absorption of sunlight, but the amount was small enough to enable an estimate of ice absorptivity. We confirmed earlier results that the absorption minimum is near 390 nm. We also found that a layer of highly reflective granular "white ice" near the surface reduces transmittance.
We measured sunlight transmitted into glacier ice to improve models of glacier ice melt and...
