Articles | Volume 15, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3751-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3751-2021
Research article
 | 
17 Aug 2021
Research article |  | 17 Aug 2021

What is the surface mass balance of Antarctica? An intercomparison of regional climate model estimates

Ruth Mottram, Nicolaj Hansen, Christoph Kittel, J. Melchior van Wessem, Cécile Agosta, Charles Amory, Fredrik Boberg, Willem Jan van de Berg, Xavier Fettweis, Alexandra Gossart, Nicole P. M. van Lipzig, Erik van Meijgaard, Andrew Orr, Tony Phillips, Stuart Webster, Sebastian B. Simonsen, and Niels Souverijns

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (02 Aug 2020) by Ayako Abe-Ouchi
AR by Ruth Mottram on behalf of the Authors (30 Oct 2020)
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (14 Nov 2020) by Ayako Abe-Ouchi
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (07 Dec 2020)
RR by Jan Lenaerts (09 Dec 2020)
ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (21 Dec 2020) by Ayako Abe-Ouchi
AR by Ruth Mottram on behalf of the Authors (27 Jan 2021)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (29 Jan 2021) by Ayako Abe-Ouchi
AR by Ruth Mottram on behalf of the Authors (10 Feb 2021)  Manuscript 
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Short summary
We compare the calculated surface mass budget (SMB) of Antarctica in five different regional climate models. On average ~ 2000 Gt of snow accumulates annually, but different models vary by ~ 10 %, a difference equivalent to ± 0.5 mm of global sea level rise. All models reproduce observed weather, but there are large differences in regional patterns of snowfall, especially in areas with very few observations, giving greater uncertainty in Antarctic mass budget than previously identified.