Articles | Volume 15, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2315-2021
© 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-15-2315-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 May 2021
Research article |
| 18 May 2021
| 18 May 2021
Hourly surface meltwater routing for a Greenlandic supraglacial catchment across hillslopes and through a dense topological channel network
Colin J. Gleason
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of
Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, 01002, USA
Kang Yang
School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing,
210023, China
Dongmei Feng
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of
Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, 01002, 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
Kai Liu
Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
Lincoln H. Pitcher
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental
Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Vena W. Chu
Department of Geography, University of California Santa Barbara,
Santa Barbara, 93106, USA
Matthew G. Cooper
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los
Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Brandon T. Overstreet
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie,
WY, 82070, USA
Asa K. Rennermalm
Department of Geography, Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Jonathan C. Ryan
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University,
Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
Related authors
C. J. Gleason, L. C. Smith, D. C. Finnegan, A. L. LeWinter, L. H Pitcher, and V. W. Chu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 2963–2969, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2963-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2963-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Here, we give a semi-automated processing workflow to extract hydraulic parameters from over 10,000 time-lapse images of the remote Isortoq River in Greenland. This workflow allows efficient and accurate (mean accuracy 79.6%) classification of images following an automated similarity filtering process. We also give an effective width hydrograph (a proxy for discharge) for the Isortoq using this workflow, showing the potential of this workflow for enhancing understanding of remote rivers.
Chang Liao, Darren Engwirda, Matthew G. Cooper, Mingke Li, and Yilin Fang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 2035–2062, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2035-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2035-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Discrete global grid systems, or DGGS, are digital frameworks that help us organize information about our planet. Although scientists have used DGGS in areas like weather and nature, using them in the water cycle has been challenging because some core datasets are missing. We created a way to generate these datasets. We then developed the datasets in the Amazon and Yukon basins, which play important roles in our planet's climate. These datasets may help us improve our water cycle models.
Sonam F. Sherpa, Laurence C. Smith, Bo Wang, and Cassie Stuurman
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-133, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-133, 2025
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
As the climate warms, glaciers in the Himalayas are melting and retreating, creating new lakes that are often held back by ice or loose rock. These lakes can suddenly burst, causing devastating floods. On August 16, 2024, such a flood occurred unexpectedly in Nepal's Bhotekoshi River Valley, near Mount Everest. We highlight how modern technologies can play a crucial role in detecting potential dangers and helping communities prepare for risks in a changing climate.
Baptiste Vandecrux, Robert S. Fausto, Jason E. Box, Federico Covi, Regine Hock, Åsa K. Rennermalm, Achim Heilig, Jakob Abermann, Dirk van As, Elisa Bjerre, Xavier Fettweis, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Max Brils, Peter L. Langen, Ruth Mottram, and Andreas P. Ahlstrøm
The Cryosphere, 18, 609–631, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-609-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-609-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
How fast is the Greenland ice sheet warming? In this study, we compiled 4500+ temperature measurements at 10 m below the ice sheet surface (T10m) from 1912 to 2022. We trained a machine learning model on these data and reconstructed T10m for the ice sheet during 1950–2022. After a slight cooling during 1950–1985, the ice sheet warmed at a rate of 0.7 °C per decade until 2022. Climate models showed mixed results compared to our observations and underestimated the warming in key regions.
Lauren D. Rawlins, David M. Rippin, Andrew J. Sole, Stephen J. Livingstone, and Kang Yang
The Cryosphere, 17, 4729–4750, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4729-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4729-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We map and quantify surface rivers and lakes at Humboldt Glacier to examine seasonal evolution and provide new insights of network configuration and behaviour. A widespread supraglacial drainage network exists, expanding up the glacier as seasonal runoff increases. Large interannual variability affects the areal extent of this network, controlled by high- vs. low-melt years, with late summer network persistence likely preconditioning the surface for earlier drainage activity the following year.
Sarah E. Esenther, Laurence C. Smith, Adam LeWinter, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Brandon T. Overstreet, Aaron Kehl, Cuyler Onclin, Seth Goldstein, and Jonathan C. Ryan
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 12, 215–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-215-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-215-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Meltwater runoff estimates from the Greenland ice sheet contain uncertainty. To better understand ice sheet hydrology, we installed a weather station and river stage sensors along three proglacial rivers in a cold-bedded area of NW Greenland without firn, crevasse, or moulin influence. The first 3 years (2019–2021) of observations have given us a first look at the seasonal and annual weather and hydrological patterns of this understudied region.
Isatis M. Cintron-Rodriguez, Åsa K. Rennermalm, Susan Kaspari, and Sasha Leidman
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-195, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-195, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Snow and ice melt driven by solar absorption is enhanced by the presence of light-absorbing particles (LAPs), such as black carbon (BC) and dust. Previous studies have ruled out LAP as an important Greenland's albedo reduction and accelerated mass loss rate factor. However, most simulations only take into consideration LAP direct effects. This study shows that taking into account LAP impact on snow metamorphism leads to albedo reductions 4 to 10 times larger than previously thought.
Chunqiao Song, Chenyu Fan, Jingying Zhu, Jida Wang, Yongwei Sheng, Kai Liu, Tan Chen, Pengfei Zhan, Shuangxiao Luo, Chunyu Yuan, and Linghong Ke
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4017–4034, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4017-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4017-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Over the last century, many dams/reservoirs have been built globally to meet various needs. The official statistics reported more than 98 000 dams/reservoirs in China. Despite the availability of several global-scale dam/reservoir databases, these databases have insufficient coverage in China. Therefore, we present the China Reservoir Dataset (CRD), which contains 97 435 reservoir polygons. The CRD reservoirs have a total area of 50 085.21 km2 and total storage of about 979.62 Gt.
Rohi Muthyala, Åsa K. Rennermalm, Sasha Z. Leidman, Matthew G. Cooper, Sarah W. Cooley, Laurence C. Smith, and Dirk van As
The Cryosphere, 16, 2245–2263, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of meltwater discharge through supraglacial stream networks are rare. The unprecedentedly long record of discharge captures diurnal and seasonal variability. Two major findings are (1) a change in the timing of peak discharge through the melt season that could impact meltwater delivery in the subglacial system and (2) though the primary driver of stream discharge is shortwave radiation, longwave radiation and turbulent heat fluxes play a major role during high-melt episodes.
Matthew G. Cooper, Laurence C. Smith, Asa K. Rennermalm, Marco Tedesco, Rohi Muthyala, Sasha Z. Leidman, Samiah E. Moustafa, and Jessica V. Fayne
The Cryosphere, 15, 1931–1953, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1931-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1931-2021, 2021
Short summary
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.
Andrea J. Pain, Jonathan B. Martin, Ellen E. Martin, Åsa K. Rennermalm, and Shaily Rahman
The Cryosphere, 15, 1627–1644, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1627-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1627-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The greenhouse gases (GHGs) methane and carbon dioxide can be produced or consumed by geochemical processes under the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). Chemical signatures and concentrations of GHGs in GrIS discharge show that organic matter remineralization produces GHGs in some locations, but mineral weathering dominates and consumes CO2 in other locations. Local processes will therefore determine whether melting of the GrIS is a positive or negative feedback on climate change driven by GHG forcing.
Claire E. Simpson, Christopher D. Arp, Yongwei Sheng, Mark L. Carroll, Benjamin M. Jones, and Laurence C. Smith
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1135–1150, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1135-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1135-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Sonar depth point measurements collected at 17 lakes on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska are used to train and validate models to map lake bathymetry. These models predict depth from remotely sensed lake color and are able to explain 58.5–97.6 % of depth variability. To calculate water volumes, we integrate this modeled bathymetry with lake surface area. Knowledge of Alaskan lake bathymetries and volumes is crucial to better understanding water storage, energy balance, and ecological habitat.
Mingxuan Wu, Xiaohong Liu, Hongbin Yu, Hailong Wang, Yang Shi, Kang Yang, Anton Darmenov, Chenglai Wu, Zhien Wang, Tao Luo, Yan Feng, and Ziming Ke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13835–13855, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13835-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13835-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The spatiotemporal distributions of dust aerosol simulated by global climate models (GCMs) are highly uncertain. In this study, we evaluate dust extinction profiles, optical depth, and surface concentrations simulated in three GCMs and one reanalysis against multiple satellite retrievals and surface observations to gain process-level understanding. Our results highlight the importance of correctly representing dust emission, dry/wet deposition, and size distribution in GCMs.
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.
Kang Yang, Aleah Sommers, Lauren C. Andrews, Laurence C. Smith, Xin Lu, Xavier Fettweis, and Manchun Li
The Cryosphere, 14, 3349–3365, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3349-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3349-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study compares hourly supraglacial moulin discharge simulations from three surface meltwater routing models. Results show that these models are superior to simply using regional climate model runoff without routing, but different routing models, different-spatial-resolution DEMs, and parameterized seasonal evolution of supraglacial stream and river networks induce significant variability in diurnal moulin discharges and corresponding subglacial effective pressures.
Dongmei Feng and Edward Beighley
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2253–2267, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2253-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2253-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Assessment of climate change impacts on hydrologic systems is critical for making adaptation strategies but subject to uncertainties from various sources. This study developed a framework to investigate such uncertainties from both hydrologic model components and climate forcings as well as associated parameterization. Results of this study reveal variable uncertainty compositions for different hydrological quantities and imply limited impact of hydrologic model parameter equifinality.
Joseph M. Cook, Andrew J. Tedstone, Christopher Williamson, Jenine McCutcheon, Andrew J. Hodson, Archana Dayal, McKenzie Skiles, Stefan Hofer, Robert Bryant, Owen McAree, Andrew McGonigle, Jonathan Ryan, Alexandre M. Anesio, Tristram D. L. Irvine-Fynn, Alun Hubbard, Edward Hanna, Mark Flanner, Sathish Mayanna, Liane G. Benning, Dirk van As, Marian Yallop, James B. McQuaid, Thomas Gribbin, and Martyn Tranter
The Cryosphere, 14, 309–330, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-309-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-309-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is a major source of uncertainty for sea level rise projections. Ice-darkening due to the growth of algae has been recognized as a potential accelerator of melting. This paper measures and models the algae-driven ice melting and maps the algae over the ice sheet for the first time. We estimate that as much as 13 % total runoff from the south-western GrIS can be attributed to these algae, showing that they must be included in future mass balance models.
Kang Yang, Laurence C. Smith, Leif Karlstrom, Matthew G. Cooper, Marco Tedesco, Dirk van As, Xiao Cheng, Zhuoqi Chen, and Manchun Li
The Cryosphere, 12, 3791–3811, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3791-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3791-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
A high-resolution spatially lumped hydrologic surface routing model is proposed to simulate meltwater transport over bare ice surfaces. In an ice-covered catchment, meltwater is routed by slow interfluve flow (~10−3–10−4 m s−1) followed by fast open-channel flow (~10−1 m s−1). Seasonal evolution of supraglacial stream-river networks substantially alters the magnitude and timing of moulin discharge with implications for subglacial hydrology and ice dynamics.
Josh Crozier, Leif Karlstrom, and Kang Yang
The Cryosphere, 12, 3383–3407, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3383-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3383-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding ice sheet surface meltwater routing is important for modeling and predicting ice sheet evolution. We determined that bed topography underlying the Greenland Ice Sheet is the primary influence on 1–10 km scale ice surface topography, and on drainage-basin-scale surface meltwater routing. We provide a simple means of predicting the response of surface meltwater routing to changing ice flow conditions and explore the implications of this for subglacial hydrology.
Matthew G. Cooper, Laurence C. Smith, Asa K. Rennermalm, Clément Miège, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Jonathan C. Ryan, Kang Yang, and Sarah W. Cooley
The Cryosphere, 12, 955–970, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We present measurements of ice density that show the melting bare-ice surface of the Greenland ice sheet study site is porous and saturated with meltwater. The data suggest up to 18 cm of meltwater is temporarily stored within porous, low-density ice. The findings imply meltwater drainage off the ice sheet surface is delayed and that the surface mass balance of the ice sheet during summer cannot be estimated solely from ice surface elevation change measurements.
Julienne C. Stroeve, John R. Mioduszewski, Asa Rennermalm, Linette N. Boisvert, Marco Tedesco, and David Robinson
The Cryosphere, 11, 2363–2381, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2363-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2363-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
As the sea ice has declined strongly in recent years there has been a corresponding increase in Greenland melting. While both are likely a result of changes in atmospheric circulation patterns that favor summer melt, this study evaluates whether or not sea ice reductions around the Greenland ice sheet are having an influence on Greenland summer melt through enhanced sensible and latent heat transport from open water areas onto the ice sheet.
Dirk van As, Andreas Bech Mikkelsen, Morten Holtegaard Nielsen, Jason E. Box, Lillemor Claesson Liljedahl, Katrin Lindbäck, Lincoln Pitcher, and Bent Hasholt
The Cryosphere, 11, 1371–1386, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1371-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1371-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The Greenland ice sheet melts faster in a warmer climate. The ice sheet is flatter at high elevation, therefore atmospheric warming increases the melt area exponentially. For current climate conditions, we find that the ice sheet shape amplifies the total meltwater generation by roughly 60 %. Meltwater is not stored underneath the ice sheet, as previously found, but it does take multiple days for it to pass through the seasonally developing subglacial drainage channels, moderating discharge.
C. J. Gleason, L. C. Smith, D. C. Finnegan, A. L. LeWinter, L. H Pitcher, and V. W. Chu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 2963–2969, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2963-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2963-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Here, we give a semi-automated processing workflow to extract hydraulic parameters from over 10,000 time-lapse images of the remote Isortoq River in Greenland. This workflow allows efficient and accurate (mean accuracy 79.6%) classification of images following an automated similarity filtering process. We also give an effective width hydrograph (a proxy for discharge) for the Isortoq using this workflow, showing the potential of this workflow for enhancing understanding of remote rivers.
S. E. Moustafa, A. K. Rennermalm, L. C. Smith, M. A. Miller, J. R. Mioduszewski, L. S. Koenig, M. G. Hom, and C. A. Shuman
The Cryosphere, 9, 905–923, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-905-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-905-2015, 2015
C. J. Legleiter, M. Tedesco, L. C. Smith, A. E. Behar, and B. T. Overstreet
The Cryosphere, 8, 215–228, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-215-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-215-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Discipline: Ice sheets | Subject: Glacier Hydrology
Evidence of active subglacial lakes under a slowly moving coastal region of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
The organization of subglacial drainage during the demise of the Finnish Lake District Ice Lobe
Volumetric evolution of supraglacial lakes in southwestern Greenland using ICESat-2 and Sentinel-2
Supraglacial lake drainage through gullies and fractures
Deep clustering in subglacial radar reflectance reveals subglacial lakes
Partial melting in polycrystalline ice: pathways identified in 3D neutron tomographic images
Evaluation of satellite methods for estimating supraglacial lake depth in southwest Greenland
Observed and modeled moulin heads in the Pâkitsoq region of Greenland suggest subglacial channel network effects
In situ measurements of meltwater flow through snow and firn in the accumulation zone of the SW Greenland Ice Sheet
Controls on Greenland moulin geometry and evolution from the Moulin Shape model
Supraglacial streamflow and meteorological drivers from southwest Greenland
Challenges in predicting Greenland supraglacial lake drainages at the regional scale
Role of discrete water recharge from supraglacial drainage systems in modeling patterns of subglacial conduits in Svalbard glaciers
A confined–unconfined aquifer model for subglacial hydrology and its application to the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream
Modelling the fate of surface melt on the Larsen C Ice Shelf
Modelled subglacial floods and tunnel valleys control the life cycle of transitory ice streams
Jennifer F. Arthur, Calvin Shackleton, Geir Moholdt, Kenichi Matsuoka, and Jelte van Oostveen
The Cryosphere, 19, 375–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-375-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-375-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Lakes can form beneath the large ice sheets and can influence ice-sheet dynamics and stability. Some of these subglacial lakes are active, meaning that they periodically drain and refill. Here we report seven new active subglacial lakes close to the Antarctic Ice Sheet margin using satellite measurements of ice surface height changes in a region where little was known previously. These findings improve our understanding of subglacial hydrology and will help refine subglacial hydrological models.
Adam J. Hepburn, Christine F. Dow, Antti Ojala, Joni Mäkinen, Elina Ahokangas, Jussi Hovikoski, Jukka-Pekka Palmu, and Kari Kajuutti
The Cryosphere, 18, 4873–4916, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4873-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4873-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Terrain formerly occupied by ice sheets in the last ice age allows us to parameterize models of basal water flow using terrain and data unavailable beneath current ice sheets. Using GlaDS, a 2D basal hydrology model, we explore the origin of murtoos, a specific landform found throughout Finland that is thought to mark the upper limit of channels beneath the ice. Our results validate many of the predictions of murtoo origins and demonstrate that such models can be used to explore past ice sheets.
Tiantian Feng, Xinyu Ma, and Xiaomin Liu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2195, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2195, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
During the melting season, substantial quantities of surface meltwater converge in topographically depressed regions, forming supraglacial lakes (SGLs). We extract SGLs area and profile depth using remote sensing data, and then inversion the depth of entire SGLs based on machine learning method. By applying above-mentioned methods, we capture the volumetric evolution of SGLs throughout the entire melt season of 2022 in southwestern Greenland.
Angelika Humbert, Veit Helm, Ole Zeising, Niklas Neckel, Matthias H. Braun, Shfaqat Abbas Khan, Martin Rückamp, Holger Steeb, Julia Sohn, Matthias Bohnen, and Ralf Müller
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1151, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1151, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We study the evolution of a massive lake on the Greenland Ice Sheet using satellite and airborne data and some modelling. The lake is emptying rapidly. The water flows to the base of the glacier through cracks and gullies that remain visible over years. Some of them become reactive. We find features inside the glacier that stem from the drainage events with even 1 km width. These features are persistent over the years, although they are changing in shape.
Sheng Dong, Lei Fu, Xueyuan Tang, Zefeng Li, and Xiaofei Chen
The Cryosphere, 18, 1241–1257, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1241-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1241-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Subglacial lakes are a unique environment at the bottom of ice sheets, and they have distinct features in radar echo images that allow for visual detection. In this study, we use machine learning to analyze radar reflection waveforms and identify candidate subglacial lakes. Our approach detects more lakes than known inventories and can be used to expand the subglacial lake inventory. Additionally, this analysis may also provide insights into interpreting other subglacial conditions.
Christopher J. L. Wilson, Mark Peternell, Filomena Salvemini, Vladimir Luzin, Frieder Enzmann, Olga Moravcova, and Nicholas J. R. Hunter
The Cryosphere, 18, 819–836, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-819-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-819-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
As the temperature increases within a deforming ice aggregate, composed of deuterium (D2O) ice and water (H2O) ice, a set of meltwater segregations are produced. These are composed of H2O and HDO and are located in conjugate shear bands and in compaction bands which accommodate the deformation and weaken the ice aggregate. This has major implications for the passage of meltwater in ice sheets and the formation of the layering recognized in glaciers.
Laura Melling, Amber Leeson, Malcolm McMillan, Jennifer Maddalena, Jade Bowling, Emily Glen, Louise Sandberg Sørensen, Mai Winstrup, and Rasmus Lørup Arildsen
The Cryosphere, 18, 543–558, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-543-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-543-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Lakes on glaciers hold large volumes of water which can drain through the ice, influencing estimates of sea level rise. To estimate water volume, we must calculate lake depth. We assessed the accuracy of three satellite-based depth detection methods on a study area in western Greenland and considered the implications for quantifying the volume of water within lakes. We found that the most popular method of detecting depth on the ice sheet scale has higher uncertainty than previously assumed.
Celia Trunz, Kristin Poinar, Lauren C. Andrews, Matthew D. Covington, Jessica Mejia, Jason Gulley, and Victoria Siegel
The Cryosphere, 17, 5075–5094, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5075-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Models simulating water pressure variations at the bottom of glaciers must use large storage parameters to produce realistic results. Whether that storage occurs englacially (in moulins) or subglacially is a matter of debate. Here, we directly simulate moulin volume to constrain the storage there. We find it is not enough. Instead, subglacial processes, including basal melt and input from upstream moulins, must be responsible for stabilizing these water pressure fluctuations.
Nicole Clerx, Horst Machguth, Andrew Tedstone, Nicolas Jullien, Nander Wever, Rolf Weingartner, and Ole Roessler
The Cryosphere, 16, 4379–4401, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4379-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4379-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Meltwater runoff is one of the main contributors to mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet that influences global sea level rise. However, it remains unclear where meltwater runs off and what processes cause this. We measured the velocity of meltwater flow through snow on the ice sheet, which ranged from 0.17–12.8 m h−1 for vertical percolation and from 1.3–15.1 m h−1 for lateral flow. This is an important step towards understanding where, when and why meltwater runoff occurs on the ice sheet.
Lauren C. Andrews, Kristin Poinar, and Celia Trunz
The Cryosphere, 16, 2421–2448, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2421-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2421-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a model for moulin geometry motivated by the wide range of sizes and shapes of explored moulins. Moulins comprise 10–14 % of the Greenland englacial–subglacial hydrologic system and act as time-varying water storage reservoirs. Moulin geometry can vary approximately 10 % daily and over 100 % seasonally. Moulin shape modulates the efficiency of the subglacial system that controls ice flow and should thus be included in hydrologic models.
Rohi Muthyala, Åsa K. Rennermalm, Sasha Z. Leidman, Matthew G. Cooper, Sarah W. Cooley, Laurence C. Smith, and Dirk van As
The Cryosphere, 16, 2245–2263, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2245-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of meltwater discharge through supraglacial stream networks are rare. The unprecedentedly long record of discharge captures diurnal and seasonal variability. Two major findings are (1) a change in the timing of peak discharge through the melt season that could impact meltwater delivery in the subglacial system and (2) though the primary driver of stream discharge is shortwave radiation, longwave radiation and turbulent heat fluxes play a major role during high-melt episodes.
Kristin Poinar and Lauren C. Andrews
The Cryosphere, 15, 1455–1483, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1455-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1455-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study addresses Greenland supraglacial lake drainages. We analyze ice deformation associated with lake drainages over 18 summers to assess whether
precursorstrain-rate events consistently precede lake drainages. We find that currently available remote sensing data products cannot resolve these events, and thus we cannot predict future lake drainages. Thus, future avenues for evaluating this hypothesis will require major field-based GPS or photogrammetry efforts.
Léo Decaux, Mariusz Grabiec, Dariusz Ignatiuk, and Jacek Jania
The Cryosphere, 13, 735–752, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-735-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-735-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Due to the fast melting of glaciers around the world, it is important to characterize the evolution of the meltwater circulation beneath them as it highly impacts their velocity. By using very
high-resolution satellite images and field measurements, we modelized it for two Svalbard glaciers. We determined that for most of Svalbard glaciers it is crucial to include their surface morphology to obtain a reliable model, which is not currently done. Having good models is key to predicting our future.
Sebastian Beyer, Thomas Kleiner, Vadym Aizinger, Martin Rückamp, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 12, 3931–3947, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3931-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3931-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The evolution of subglacial channels below ice sheets is very important for the dynamics of glaciers as the water acts as a lubricant. We present a new numerical model (CUAS) that generalizes existing approaches by accounting for two different flow situations within a single porous medium layer: (1) a confined aquifer if sufficient water supply is available and (2) an unconfined aquifer, otherwise. The model is applied to artificial scenarios as well as to the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream.
Sammie Buzzard, Daniel Feltham, and Daniela Flocco
The Cryosphere, 12, 3565–3575, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3565-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3565-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Surface lakes on ice shelves can not only change the amount of solar energy the ice shelf receives, but may also play a pivotal role in sudden ice shelf collapse such as that of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in 2002.
Here we simulate current and future melting on Larsen C, Antarctica’s most northern ice shelf and one on which lakes have been observed. We find that should future lakes occur closer to the ice shelf front, they may contain sufficient meltwater to contribute to ice shelf instability.
Thomas Lelandais, Édouard Ravier, Stéphane Pochat, Olivier Bourgeois, Christopher Clark, Régis Mourgues, and Pierre Strzerzynski
The Cryosphere, 12, 2759–2772, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2759-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2759-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Scattered observations suggest that subglacial meltwater routes drive ice stream dynamics and ice sheet stability. We use a new experimental approach to reconcile such observations into a coherent story connecting ice stream life cycles with subglacial hydrology and bed erosion. Results demonstrate that subglacial flooding, drainage reorganization, and valley development can control an ice stream lifespan, thus opening new perspectives on subglacial processes controlling ice sheet instabilities.
Cited articles
Allen, G. H., Pavelsky, T. M., Barefoot, E. A., Lamb, M. P., Butman, D.,
Tashie, A., and Gleason, C. J.: Similarity of stream width distributions
across headwater systems, Nat. Commun., 9, 610, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-02991-w, 2018.
Arnold, N. S., Banwell, A. F., and Willis, I. C.: High-resolution modelling of the seasonal evolution of surface water storage on the Greenland Ice Sheet, The Cryosphere, 8, 1149–1160, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1149-2014, 2014.
Banwell, A., Hewitt, I., Willis, I., and Arnold, N.: Moulin density controls
drainage development beneath the Greenland ice sheet, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 2248–2269, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003801, 2016.
Banwell, A. F., Arnold, N. S., Willis, I. C., Tedesco, M., and Ahlstrøm,
A. P.: Modeling supraglacial water routing and lake filling on the Greenland
Ice Sheet, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 117, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002393, 2012.
Banwell, A. F., Willis, I. C., and Arnold, N. S.: Modeling subglacial water
routing at Paakitsoq, W Greenland, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 118, 1282–1295, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20093, 2013.
Bates, P. D., Horritt, M. S., Smith, C. N., and Mason, D.: Integrating remote
sensing observations of flood hydrology and hydraulic modelling,
Hydrol. Process., 11, 1777–1795, https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(199711)11:14<1777::aid-hyp543>3.0.co;2-e, 1997.
Beighley, R. E., Eggert, K. G., Dunne, T., He, Y., Gummadi, V., and Verdin,
K. L.: Simulating hydrologic and hydraulic processes throughout the Amazon
River Basin, Hydrol. Process., 23, 1221–1235, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7252, 2009.
Brinkerhoff, C. B., Gleason, C. J., and Ostendorf, D. W.: Reconciling
at-a-Station and at-Many-Stations Hydraulic Geometry Through River-Wide
Geomorphology, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 9637–9647, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084529, 2019.
Chandler, D. M., Wadham, J. L., Lis, G. P., Cowton, T., Sole, A., Bartholomew, I., Telling, J., Nienow, P., Bagshaw, E. B., Mair, D., Vinen, S., and Hubbard, A.: Evolution of the subglacial drainage system beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet revealed by tracers, Nat. Geosci., 6, 195–198, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1737, 2013.
Chu, V. W.: Greenland ice sheet hydrology: A review, Progress in Physical
Geography: Earth and Environment, 38, 19–54, https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133313507075, 2014.
Clason, C. C., Mair, D. W. F., Nienow, P. W., Bartholomew, I. D., Sole, A., Palmer, S., and Schwanghart, W.: Modelling the transfer of supraglacial meltwater to the bed of Leverett Glacier, Southwest Greenland, The Cryosphere, 9, 123–138, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-123-2015, 2015.
Cooper, M. G., Smith, L. C., Rennermalm, A. K., Miège, C., Pitcher, L.
H., Ryan, J. C., Yang, K., and Cooley, S.: Near surface meltwater storage in
low-density bare ice of theGreenland ice sheet ablation zone, preprint,
Glacier Hydrology, 2017.
Cooper, M. G., Smith, L. C., Rennermalm, A. K., Miège, C., Pitcher, L. H., Ryan, J. C., Yang, K., and Cooley, S. W.: Meltwater storage in low-density near-surface bare ice in the Greenland ice sheet ablation zone, The Cryosphere, 12, 955–970, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-955-2018, 2018.
Cunge, J. A.: On The Subject Of A Flood Propagation Computation Method
(Musklngum Method), J. Hydraul. Res., 7, 205–230, https://doi.org/10.1080/00221686909500264, 1969.
Davison, B. J., Sole, A. J., Livingstone, S. J., Cowton, T. R., and Nienow,
P. W.: The Influence of Hydrology on the Dynamics of Land-Terminating
Sectors of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Front. Earth Sci., 7, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00010, 2019.
Deb, K., Pratap, A., Agarwal, S., and Meyarivan, T.: A fast and elitist
multiobjective genetic algorithm: NSGA-II, IEEE T. Evolut. Comput., 6, 182–197, https://doi.org/10.1109/4235.996017, 2002.
Dohm, J. M., Ferris, J. C., Baker, V. R., Anderson, R. C., Hare, T. M.,
Strom, R. G., Barlow, N. G., Tanaka, K. L., Klemaszewski, J. E., and Scott,
D. H.: Ancient drainage basin of the Tharsis region, Mars: Potential source
for outflow channel systems and putative oceans or paleolakes, J. Geophys. Res.-Planet., 106, 32943–32958, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JE001468, 2001.
Fassett, C. I. and Head, J. W.: The timing of martian valley network
activity: Constraints from buffered crater counting, Icarus, 195, 61–89, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2007.12.009, 2008.
Fettweis, X., Hofer, S., Krebs-Kanzow, U., Amory, C., Aoki, T., Berends, C. J., Born, A., Box, J. E., Delhasse, A., Fujita, K., Gierz, P., Goelzer, H., Hanna, E., Hashimoto, A., Huybrechts, P., Kapsch, M.-L., King, M. D., Kittel, C., Lang, C., Langen, P. L., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Liston, G. E., Lohmann, G., Mernild, S. H., Mikolajewicz, U., Modali, K., Mottram, R. H., Niwano, M., Noël, B., Ryan, J. C., Smith, A., Streffing, J., Tedesco, M., van de Berg, W. J., van den Broeke, M., van de Wal, R. S. W., van Kampenhout, L., Wilton, D., Wouters, B., Ziemen, F., and Zolles, T.: GrSMBMIP: intercomparison of the modelled 1980–2012 surface mass balance over the Greenland Ice Sheet, The Cryosphere, 14, 3935–3958, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3935-2020, 2020.
Fleurian, B. de, Morlighem, M., Seroussi, H., Rignot, E., Broeke, M. R. van
den, Munneke, P. K., Mouginot, J., Smeets, P. C. J. P., and Tedstone, A. J.:
A modeling study of the effect of runoff variability on the effective
pressure beneath Russell Glacier, West Greenland, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 1834–1848, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF003842, 2016.
Flowers, G. E.: Hydrology and the future of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Nat. Commun., 9, 2729, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05002-0, 2018.
Gleason, C. J. and Durand, M. T.: Remote Sensing of River Discharge: A
Review and a Framing for the Discipline, Remote Sens., 12, 1107, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12071107, 2020.
Gleason, C. J., Smith, L. C., and Lee, J.: Retrieval of river discharge
solely from satellite imagery and at-many-stations hydraulic geometry:
Sensitivity to river form and optimization parameters, Water Resour. Res., 50, 9604–9619, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR016109, 2014.
Gleason, C. J., Smith, L. C., Chu, V. W., Legleiter, C. J., Pitcher, L. H.,
Overstreet, B. T., Rennermalm, A. K., Forster, R. R., and Yang, K.:
Characterizing supraglacial meltwater channel hydraulics on the Greenland
Ice Sheet from in situ observations, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 41, 2111–2122, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3977, 2016.
Gleason, C. J.: Fluvial-UMass/Gleason-et-al-TC-2021: Pre-publication archive creation (Version v1.0.0) [Data set], Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4646423, 2021.
Gupta, H. V., Sorooshian, S., and Yapo, P. O.: Toward improved calibration of
hydrologic models: Multiple and noncommensurable measures of information,
Water Resour. Res., 34, 751–763, https://doi.org/10.1029/97WR03495, 1998.
Hergarten, S. and Neugebauer, H. J.: homogenization of Manning's Formula for
modeling surface runoff, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 877–880,
https://doi.org/10.1029/97GL00756, 1997.
Horton, R. E.: Erosional Development of Streams and Their Drainage Basins;
Hydrophysical Approach to Quantitative Morphology, Gsa Bulletin, 56,
275–370, https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1945)56[275:EDOSAT]2.0.CO;2, 1945.
Irvine-Fynn, T. D. L., Hodson, A. J., Moorman, B. J., Vatne, G., and Hubbard,
A. L.: Polythermal Glacier Hydrology: A Review, Rev. Geophys.,
49, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010RG000350, 2011.
Kalyanapu, A. J., Burian, S., and McPherson, T.: Effect of land use-based
surface roughness on hydrologic model output, Journal of Spatial Hydrology,
9, 51–71, 2010.
Karlstrom, L. and Yang, K.: Fluvial supraglacial landscape evolution on the
Greenland Ice Sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 2683–2692, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL067697, 2016.
King, L., Hassan, M. A., Yang, K., and Flowers, G.: Flow Routing for
Delineating Supraglacial Meltwater Channel Networks, Remote Sens., 8,
988, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8120988, 2016.
Kirchner, J. W.: Getting the right answers for the right reasons: Linking
measurements, analyses, and models to advance the science of hydrology,
Water Resour. Res., 42, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004362, 2006.
Koziol, C., Arnold, N., Pope, A., and Colgan, W.: Quantifying supraglacial
meltwater pathways in the Paakitsoq region, West Greenland, J. Glaciol., 63, 464–476, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.5, 2017.
Lampkin, D. J. and VanderBerg, J.: Supraglacial melt channel networks in the
Jakobshavn Isbræ region during the 2007 melt season, Hydrol. Process., 28, 6038–6053, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10085, 2014.
Leeson, A. A., Shepherd, A., Palmer, S., Sundal, A., and Fettweis, X.: Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet, The Cryosphere, 6, 1077–1086, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-1077-2012, 2012.
Legleiter, C. J., Tedesco, M., Smith, L. C., Behar, A. E., and Overstreet, B. T.: Mapping the bathymetry of supraglacial lakes and streams on the Greenland ice sheet using field measurements and high-resolution satellite images, The Cryosphere, 8, 215–228, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-215-2014, 2014.
Li, R.-M., Simons, D. B., and Stevens, M. A.: Nonlinear kinematic wave
approximation for water routing, Water Resour. Res., 11, 245–252, https://doi.org/10.1029/WR011i002p00245, 1975.
Lin, P., Pan, M., Beck, H. E., Yang, Y., Yamazaki, D., Frasson, R., David, C. H., Durand, M., Pavelsky, T. M., Allen, G. H., Gleason, C. J., and Wood, E. F.: Global reconstruction of naturalized river flows at 2.94 million reaches. Water Resour. Res., 55, 6499–6516, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025287, 2019.
Lindsay, J. B.: Efficient hybrid breaching-filling sink removal methods for
flow path enforcement in digital elevation models, Hydrol. Process.,
30, 846–857, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10648, 2016.
Liston, G. E. and Mernild, S. H.: Greenland Freshwater Runoff. Part I: A
Runoff Routing Model for Glaciated and Nonglaciated Landscapes (HydroFlow),
J. Climate, 25, 5997–6014, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00591.1, 2012.
Mankoff, K. D., Noël, B., Fettweis, X., Ahlstrøm, A. P., Colgan, W., Kondo, K., Langley, K., Sugiyama, S., van As, D., and Fausto, R. S.: Greenland liquid water discharge from 1958 through 2019, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2811–2841, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2811-2020, 2020.
Manning, R.: On the flow of water in open channels and pipes, Transactions
of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland, XX, 161–207, 1891.
McCuen, R. H.: Hydrologic Analysis and Design, 3rd Edition., Pearson, Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey, 2004.
McGrath, D., Colgan, W., Steffen, K., Lauffenburger, P., and Balog, J.:
Assessing the summer water budget of a moulin basin in the Sermeq Avannarleq
ablation region, Greenland ice sheet, J. Glaciol., 57,
954–964, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311798043735, 2011.
Moussavi, M. S., Abdalati, W., Pope, A., Scambos, T., Tedesco, M.,
MacFerrin, M., and Grigsby, S.: Derivation and validation of supraglacial
lake volumes on the Greenland Ice Sheet from high-resolution satellite
imagery, Remote Sens. Environ., 183, 294–303, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.05.024, 2016.
Munro, D. S.: Delays of supraglacial runoff from differently defined
microbasin areas on the Peyto Glacier, Hydrol. Process., 25,
2983–2994, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8124, 2011.
Pitcher, L. H. and Smith, L. C.: Supraglacial Streams and Rivers, Annu. Rev.
Earth Planet. Sci., 47, 421–452, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-053018-060212, 2019.
Pope, A., Scambos, T. A., Moussavi, M., Tedesco, M., Willis, M., Shean, D., and Grigsby, S.: Estimating supraglacial lake depth in West Greenland using Landsat 8 and comparison with other multispectral methods, The Cryosphere, 10, 15–27, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-15-2016, 2016.
Porter, C., Morin, P., Howat, I., Noh, M.-J., Bates, B., Peterman, K.,
Keesey, S., Schlenk, M., Gardiner, J., Tomko, K., Willis, M., Kelleher, C.,
Cloutier, M., Husby, E., Foga, S., Nakamura, H., Platson, M., Wethington,
M., Williamson, C., Bauer, G., Enos, J., Arnold, G., Kramer, W., Becker, P.,
Doshi, A., D'Souza, C., Cummens, P., Laurier, F., and Bojesen, M.: ArcticDEM, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OHHUKH, 2018.
Rennermalm, A. K., Moustafa, S. E., Mioduszewski, J., Chu, V. W., Forster,
R. R., Hagedorn, B., Harper, J. T., Mote, T. L., Robinson, D. A., Shuman, C.
A., Smith, L. C., and Tedesco, M.: Understanding Greenland ice sheet
hydrology using an integrated multi-scale approach, Environ. Res. Lett.,
8, 015017, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015017,
2013.
Rinaldo, A., Vogel, G. K., Rigon, R., and Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.: Can One Gauge
the Shape of a Basin?, Water Resour. Res., 31, 1119–1127, https://doi.org/10.1029/94WR03290, 1995.
Rippin, D. M., Pomfret, A., and King, N.: High resolution mapping of
supra-glacial drainage pathways reveals link between micro-channel drainage
density, surface roughness and surface reflectance, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 40, 1279–1290, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3719, 2015.
Rodriguez, J. A. P., Sasaki, S., Kuzmin, R. O., Dohm, J. M., Tanaka, K. L.,
Miyamoto, H., Kurita, K., Komatsu, G., Fairén, A. G., and Ferris, J. C.:
Outflow channel sources, reactivation, and chaos formation, Xanthe Terra,
Mars, Icarus, 175, 36–57, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.025, 2005.
Ryan, J. C., Hubbard, A., Box, J. E., Brough, S., Cameron, K., Cook, J. M.,
Cooper, M., Doyle, S. H., Edwards, A., Holt, T., Irvine-Fynn, T., Jones, C.,
Pitcher, L. H., Rennermalm, A. K., Smith, L. C., Stibal, M., and Snooke, N.:
Derivation of High Spatial Resolution Albedo from UAV Digital Imagery:
Application over the Greenland Ice Sheet, Front. Earth Sci., 5, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00040, 2017.
Smith, L. C., Chu, V. W., Yang, K., Gleason, C. J., Pitcher, L. H.,
Rennermalm, A. K., Legleiter, C. J., Behar, A. E., Overstreet, B. T.,
Moustafa, S. E., Tedesco, M., Forster, R. R., LeWinter, A. L., Finnegan, D.
C., Sheng, Y., and Balog, J.: Efficient meltwater drainage through
supraglacial streams and rivers on the southwest Greenland ice sheet, PNAS,
112, 1001–1006, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1413024112,
2015.
Smith, L. C., Yang, K., Pitcher, L. H., Overstreet, B. T., Chu, V. W.,
Rennermalm, Å. K., Ryan, J. C., Cooper, M. G., Gleason, C. J., Tedesco,
M., Jeyaratnam, J., As, D. van, Broeke, M. R. van den, Berg, W. J. van de,
Noël, B., Langen, P. L., Cullather, R. I., Zhao, B., Willis, M. J.,
Hubbard, A., Box, J. E., Jenner, B. A., and Behar, A. E.: Direct measurements
of meltwater runoff on the Greenland ice sheet surface, PNAS, 114,
E10622–E10631, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1707743114, 2017.
Snyder, F. F.: Synthetic unit-graphs, Eos, Transactions American Geophysical
Union, 19, 447–454, https://doi.org/10.1029/TR019i001p00447, 1938.
Turnipseed, D. P. and Sauer, V. B.: Discharge measurements at gaging
stations, USGS Numbered Series, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, 2010.
Vernon, C. L., Bamber, J. L., Box, J. E., van den Broeke, M. R., Fettweis, X., Hanna, E., and Huybrechts, P.: Surface mass balance model intercomparison for the Greenland ice sheet, The Cryosphere, 7, 599–614, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-599-2013, 2013.
Wood, E. F., Roundy, J. K., Troy, T. J., Beek, L. P. H. van, Bierkens, M. F.
P., Blyth, E., Roo, A. de, Döll, P., Ek, M., Famiglietti, J., Gochis,
D., Giesen, N. van de, Houser, P., Jaffé, P. R., Kollet, S., Lehner, B.,
Lettenmaier, D. P., Peters-Lidard, C., Sivapalan, M., Sheffield, J., Wade,
A., and Whitehead, P.: Hyperresolution global land surface modeling: Meeting
a grand challenge for monitoring Earth's terrestrial water, Water Resour. Res., 47, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR010090, 2011.
Yang, K. and Smith, L. C.: Internally drained catchments dominate
supraglacial hydrology of the southwest Greenland Ice Sheet, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 1891–1910, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF003927, 2016.
Yang, K., Smith, L. C., Chu, V. W., Pitcher, L. H., Gleason, C. J.,
Rennermalm, A. K., and Li, M.: Fluvial morphometry of supraglacial river
networks on the southwest Greenland Ice Sheet, GIScience and Remote
Sensing, 53, 459–482, https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2016.1162345, 2016.
Yang, K., Smith, L. C., Karlstrom, L., Cooper, M. G., Tedesco, M., van As, D., Cheng, X., Chen, Z., and Li, M.: A new surface meltwater routing model for use on the Greenland Ice Sheet surface, The Cryosphere, 12, 3791–3811, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3791-2018, 2018.
Yang, K., Sommers, A., Andrews, L. C., Smith, L. C., Lu, X., Fettweis, X., and Li, M.: Intercomparison of surface meltwater routing models for the Greenland ice sheet and influence on subglacial effective pressures, The Cryosphere, 14, 3349–3365, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3349-2020, 2020.
Short summary
We apply first-principle hydrology models designed for global river routing to route flows hourly through 10 000 individual supraglacial channels in Greenland. Our results uniquely show the role of process controls (network density, hillslope flow, channel friction) on routed meltwater. We also confirm earlier suggestions that large channels do not dewater overnight despite the shutdown of runoff and surface mass balance runoff being mistimed and overproducing runoff, as validated in situ.
We apply first-principle hydrology models designed for global river routing to route flows...
