Articles | Volume 15, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-909-2021
© 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-15-909-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
25 Feb 2021
Research article |
| 25 Feb 2021
| 25 Feb 2021
The 32-year record-high surface melt in 2019/2020 on the northern George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula
Alison F. Banwell
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES),
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), University of Cambridge, Cambridge,
UK
Rajashree Tri Datta
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD, USA
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC), University of
Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Rebecca L. Dell
Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), University of Cambridge, Cambridge,
UK
Mahsa Moussavi
National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), University of Colorado Boulder,
CO, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES),
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Ludovic Brucker
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, USA
Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research Studies and Investigations,
Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, MD, USA
Ghislain Picard
Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement
(IGE), CNRS, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5001, 38041 Grenoble, France
Christopher A. Shuman
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, USA
Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Laura A. Stevens
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA
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Esteban Alonso-González, Simon Gascoin, Sara Arioli, and Ghislain Picard
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Sara Arioli, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, and Vincent Favier
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Melody Sandells, Nick Rutter, Kirsty Wivell, Richard Essery, Stuart Fox, Chawn Harlow, Ghislain Picard, Alexandre Roy, Alain Royer, and Peter Toose
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Satellite microwave observations are used for weather forecasting. In Arctic regions this is complicated by natural emission from the snow. By simulating airborne observations from in situ measurements of snow, this study shows how snow properties affect the signal within the atmosphere. Fresh snowfall between flights changed the airborne measurements. Good knowledge of snow layering and structure can be used to account for the effects of snow, and could unlock these data to improve forecasts.
Marco Brogioni, Mark J. Andrews, Stefano Urbini, Kenneth C. Jezek, Joel T. Johnson, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Giovanni Macelloni, Stephen F. Ackley, Alexandra Bringer, Ludovic Brucker, Oguz Demir, Giacomo Fontanelli, Caglar Yardim, Lars Kaleschke, Francesco Montomoli, Leung Tsang, Silvia Becagli, and Massimo Frezzotti
The Cryosphere, 17, 255–278, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-255-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-255-2023, 2023
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In 2018 the first Antarctic campaign of UWBRAD was carried out. UWBRAD is a new radiometer able to collect microwave spectral signatures over 0.5–2 GHz, thus outperforming existing similar sensors. It allows us to probe thicker sea ice and ice sheet down to the bedrock. In this work we tried to assess the UWBRAD potentials for sea ice, glaciers, ice shelves and buried lakes. We also highlighted the wider range of information the spectral signature can provide to glaciological studies.
Ghislain Picard, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Alison F. Banwell, Ludovic Brucker, and Giovanni Macelloni
The Cryosphere, 16, 5061–5083, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5061-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5061-2022, 2022
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Devon Dunmire, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Rajashree Tri Datta, and Tessa Gorte
The Cryosphere, 16, 4163–4184, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4163-2022, 2022
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Earth system models (ESMs) are used to model the climate system and the interactions of its components (atmosphere, ocean, etc.) both historically and into the future under different assumptions of human activity. The representation of Antarctica in ESMs is important because it can inform projections of the ice sheet's contribution to sea level rise. Here, we compare output of Antarctica's surface climate from an ESM with observations to understand strengths and weaknesses within the model.
Ghislain Picard, Henning Löwe, and Christian Mätzler
The Cryosphere, 16, 3861–3866, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3861-2022, 2022
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Microwave satellite observations used to monitor the cryosphere require radiative transfer models for their interpretation. These models represent how microwaves are scattered by snow and ice. However no existing theory is suitable for all types of snow and ice found on Earth. We adapted a recently published generic scattering theory to snow and show how it may improve the representation of snows with intermediate densities (~500 kg/m3) and/or with coarse grains at high microwave frequencies.
Leung Tsang, Michael Durand, Chris Derksen, Ana P. Barros, Do-Hyuk Kang, Hans Lievens, Hans-Peter Marshall, Jiyue Zhu, Joel Johnson, Joshua King, Juha Lemmetyinen, Melody Sandells, Nick Rutter, Paul Siqueira, Anne Nolin, Batu Osmanoglu, Carrie Vuyovich, Edward Kim, Drew Taylor, Ioanna Merkouriadi, Ludovic Brucker, Mahdi Navari, Marie Dumont, Richard Kelly, Rhae Sung Kim, Tien-Hao Liao, Firoz Borah, and Xiaolan Xu
The Cryosphere, 16, 3531–3573, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3531-2022, 2022
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Snow water equivalent (SWE) is of fundamental importance to water, energy, and geochemical cycles but is poorly observed globally. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements at X- and Ku-band can address this gap. This review serves to inform the broad snow research, monitoring, and application communities about the progress made in recent decades to move towards a new satellite mission capable of addressing the needs of the geoscience researchers and users.
Gauthier Vérin, Florent Domine, Marcel Babin, Ghislain Picard, and Laurent Arnaud
The Cryosphere, 16, 3431–3449, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3431-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3431-2022, 2022
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Snow physical properties on Arctic sea ice are monitored during the melt season. As snow grains grow, and the snowpack thickness is reduced, the surface albedo decreases. The extra absorbed energy accelerates melting. Radiative transfer modeling shows that more radiation is then transmitted to the snow–sea-ice interface. A sharp increase in transmitted radiation takes place when the snowpack thins significantly, and this coincides with the initiation of the phytoplankton bloom in the seawater.
Alvaro Robledano, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Fanny Larue, and Inès Ollivier
The Cryosphere, 16, 559–579, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-559-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-559-2022, 2022
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Topography controls the surface temperature of snow-covered, mountainous areas. We developed a modelling chain that uses ray-tracing methods to quantify the impact of a few topographic effects on snow surface temperature at high spatial resolution. Its large spatial and temporal variations are correctly simulated over a 50 km2 area in the French Alps, and our results show that excluding a single topographic effect results in cooling (or warming) effects on the order of 1 °C.
Julie Z. Miller, Riley Culberg, David G. Long, Christopher A. Shuman, Dustin M. Schroeder, and Mary J. Brodzik
The Cryosphere, 16, 103–125, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-103-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-103-2022, 2022
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We use L-band brightness temperature imagery from NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite to map the extent of perennial firn aquifer and ice slab areas within the Greenland Ice Sheet. As Greenland's climate continues to warm and seasonal surface melting increases in extent, intensity, and duration, quantifying the possible rapid expansion of perennial firn aquifers and ice slab areas has significant implications for understanding the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Rajashree Tri Datta and Bert Wouters
The Cryosphere, 15, 5115–5132, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5115-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5115-2021, 2021
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The ICESat-2 laser altimeter can detect the surface and bottom of a supraglacial lake. We introduce the Watta algorithm, automatically calculating lake surface, corrected bottom, and (sub-)surface ice at high resolution adapting to signal strength. ICESat-2 depths constrain full lake depths of 46 lakes over Jakobshavn glacier using multiple sources of imagery, including very high-resolution Planet imagery, used for the first time to extract supraglacial lake depths empirically using ICESat-2.
Maria Belke-Brea, Florent Domine, Ghislain Picard, Mathieu Barrere, and Laurent Arnaud
Biogeosciences, 18, 5851–5869, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5851-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5851-2021, 2021
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Expanding shrubs in the Arctic change snowpacks into a mix of snow, impurities and buried branches. Snow is a translucent medium into which light penetrates and gets partly absorbed by branches or impurities. Measurements of light attenuation in snow in Northern Quebec, Canada, showed (1) black-carbon-dominated light attenuation in snowpacks without shrubs and (2) buried branches influence radiation attenuation in snow locally, leading to melting and pockets of large crystals close to branches.
Devon Dunmire, Alison F. Banwell, Nander Wever, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, and Rajashree Tri Datta
The Cryosphere, 15, 2983–3005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2983-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2983-2021, 2021
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Here, we automatically detect buried lakes (meltwater lakes buried below layers of snow) across the Greenland Ice Sheet, providing insight into a poorly studied meltwater feature. For 2018 and 2019, we compare areal extent of buried lakes. We find greater buried lake extent in 2019, especially in northern Greenland, which we attribute to late-summer surface melt and high autumn temperatures. We also provide evidence that buried lakes form via different processes across Greenland.
François Tuzet, Marie Dumont, Ghislain Picard, Maxim Lamare, Didier Voisin, Pierre Nabat, Mathieu Lafaysse, Fanny Larue, Jesus Revuelto, and Laurent Arnaud
The Cryosphere, 14, 4553–4579, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4553-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4553-2020, 2020
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This study presents a field dataset collected over 30 d from two snow seasons at a Col du Lautaret site (French Alps). The dataset compares different measurements or estimates of light-absorbing particle (LAP) concentrations in snow, highlighting a gap in the current understanding of the measurement of these quantities. An ensemble snowpack model is then evaluated for this dataset estimating that LAPs shorten each snow season by around 10 d despite contrasting meteorological conditions.
Maxim Lamare, Marie Dumont, Ghislain Picard, Fanny Larue, François Tuzet, Clément Delcourt, and Laurent Arnaud
The Cryosphere, 14, 3995–4020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3995-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3995-2020, 2020
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Terrain features found in mountainous regions introduce large errors into the calculation of the physical properties of snow using optical satellite images. We present a new model performing rapid calculations of solar radiation over snow-covered rugged terrain that we tested over a site in the French Alps. The results of the study show that all the interactions between sunlight and the terrain should be accounted for over snow-covered surfaces to correctly estimate snow properties from space.
Julie Z. Miller, David G. Long, Kenneth C. Jezek, Joel T. Johnson, Mary J. Brodzik, Christopher A. Shuman, Lora S. Koenig, and Ted A. Scambos
The Cryosphere, 14, 2809–2817, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2809-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2809-2020, 2020
Rebecca Dell, Neil Arnold, Ian Willis, Alison Banwell, Andrew Williamson, Hamish Pritchard, and Andrew Orr
The Cryosphere, 14, 2313–2330, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2313-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2313-2020, 2020
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A semi-automated method is developed from pre-existing work to track surface water bodies across Antarctic ice shelves over time, using data from Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8. This method is applied to the Nivlisen Ice Shelf for the 2016–2017 melt season. The results reveal two large linear meltwater systems, which hold 63 % of the peak total surface meltwater volume on 26 January 2017. These meltwater systems migrate towards the ice shelf front as the melt season progresses.
Fanny Larue, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Inès Ollivier, Clément Delcourt, Maxim Lamare, François Tuzet, Jesus Revuelto, and Marie Dumont
The Cryosphere, 14, 1651–1672, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1651-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1651-2020, 2020
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The effect of surface roughness on snow albedo is often overlooked,
although a small change in albedo may strongly affect the surface energy
budget. By carving artificial roughness in an initially smooth snowpack,
we highlight albedo reductions of 0.03–0.04 at 700 nm and 0.06–0.10 at 1000 nm. A model using photon transport is developed to compute albedo considering roughness and applied to understand the impact of roughness as a function of snow properties and illumination conditions.
Ghislain Picard, Marie Dumont, Maxim Lamare, François Tuzet, Fanny Larue, Roberta Pirazzini, and Laurent Arnaud
The Cryosphere, 14, 1497–1517, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1497-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1497-2020, 2020
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Surface albedo is an essential variable of snow-covered areas. The measurement of this variable over a tilted terrain with levelled sensors is affected by artefacts that need to be corrected. Here we develop a theory of spectral albedo measurement over slopes from which we derive four correction algorithms. The comparison to in situ measurements taken in the Alps shows the adequacy of the theory, and the application of the algorithms shows systematic improvements.
Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Ghislain Picard, Giovanni Macelloni, Arnaud Mialon, and Yann H. Kerr
The Cryosphere, 14, 539–548, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-539-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-539-2020, 2020
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To study the coast and ice shelves affected by melt in Antarctica during the austral summer, we exploited the 1.4 GHz radiometric satellite observations. We showed that this frequency provides additional information on melt occurrence and on the location of the water in the snowpack compared to the 19 GHz observations. This opens an avenue for improving the melting season monitoring with a combination of both frequencies and exploring the possibility of deep-water detection in the snowpack.
Philippe Massicotte, Rémi Amiraux, Marie-Pier Amyot, Philippe Archambault, Mathieu Ardyna, Laurent Arnaud, Lise Artigue, Cyril Aubry, Pierre Ayotte, Guislain Bécu, Simon Bélanger, Ronald Benner, Henry C. Bittig, Annick Bricaud, Éric Brossier, Flavienne Bruyant, Laurent Chauvaud, Debra Christiansen-Stowe, Hervé Claustre, Véronique Cornet-Barthaux, Pierre Coupel, Christine Cox, Aurelie Delaforge, Thibaud Dezutter, Céline Dimier, Florent Domine, Francis Dufour, Christiane Dufresne, Dany Dumont, Jens Ehn, Brent Else, Joannie Ferland, Marie-Hélène Forget, Louis Fortier, Martí Galí, Virginie Galindo, Morgane Gallinari, Nicole Garcia, Catherine Gérikas Ribeiro, Margaux Gourdal, Priscilla Gourvil, Clemence Goyens, Pierre-Luc Grondin, Pascal Guillot, Caroline Guilmette, Marie-Noëlle Houssais, Fabien Joux, Léo Lacour, Thomas Lacour, Augustin Lafond, José Lagunas, Catherine Lalande, Julien Laliberté, Simon Lambert-Girard, Jade Larivière, Johann Lavaud, Anita LeBaron, Karine Leblanc, Florence Le Gall, Justine Legras, Mélanie Lemire, Maurice Levasseur, Edouard Leymarie, Aude Leynaert, Adriana Lopes dos Santos, Antonio Lourenço, David Mah, Claudie Marec, Dominique Marie, Nicolas Martin, Constance Marty, Sabine Marty, Guillaume Massé, Atsushi Matsuoka, Lisa Matthes, Brivaela Moriceau, Pierre-Emmanuel Muller, Christopher-John Mundy, Griet Neukermans, Laurent Oziel, Christos Panagiotopoulos, Jean-Jacques Pangrazi, Ghislain Picard, Marc Picheral, France Pinczon du Sel, Nicole Pogorzelec, Ian Probert, Bernard Quéguiner, Patrick Raimbault, Joséphine Ras, Eric Rehm, Erin Reimer, Jean-François Rontani, Søren Rysgaard, Blanche Saint-Béat, Makoto Sampei, Julie Sansoulet, Catherine Schmechtig, Sabine Schmidt, Richard Sempéré, Caroline Sévigny, Yuan Shen, Margot Tragin, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Daniel Vaulot, Gauthier Verin, Frédéric Vivier, Anda Vladoiu, Jeremy Whitehead, and Marcel Babin
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 151–176, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-151-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-151-2020, 2020
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The Green Edge initiative was developed to understand the processes controlling the primary productivity and the fate of organic matter produced during the Arctic spring bloom (PSB). In this article, we present an overview of an extensive and comprehensive dataset acquired during two expeditions conducted in 2015 and 2016 on landfast ice southeast of Qikiqtarjuaq Island in Baffin Bay.
Christiaan T. van Dalum, Willem Jan van de Berg, Quentin Libois, Ghislain Picard, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 5157–5175, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-5157-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-5157-2019, 2019
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Climate models are often limited to relatively simple snow albedo schemes. Therefore, we have developed the SNOWBAL module to couple a climate model with a physically based wavelength dependent snow albedo model. Using SNOWBAL v1.2 to couple the snow albedo model TARTES with the regional climate model RACMO2 indicates a potential performance gain for the Greenland ice sheet.
Francois Tuzet, Marie Dumont, Laurent Arnaud, Didier Voisin, Maxim Lamare, Fanny Larue, Jesus Revuelto, and Ghislain Picard
The Cryosphere, 13, 2169–2187, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2169-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2169-2019, 2019
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Here we present a novel method to estimate the impurity content (e.g. black carbon or mineral dust) in Alpine snow based on measurements of light extinction profiles. This method is proposed as an alternative to chemical measurements, allowing rapid retrievals of vertical concentrations of impurities in the snowpack. In addition, the results provide a better understanding of the impact of impurities on visible light extinction in snow.
Gauthier Verin, Florent Dominé, Marcel Babin, Ghislain Picard, and Laurent Arnaud
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-113, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-113, 2019
Publication in TC not foreseen
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The results of two sampling campaigns conducted on landfast sea ice in Baffin Bay show that the melt season can be divided into four main phases during which surface albedo and snow properties show distinct signatures. A radiative transfer model was used to successfully reconstruct the albedo from snow properties. This modeling work highlights that only little changes on the very surface of the snowpack are able to dramatically change the albedo, a key element for the energy budget of sea ice.
Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Romain Caneill, Eric Lefebvre, and Maxim Lamare
The Cryosphere, 13, 1983–1999, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1983-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1983-2019, 2019
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To study how snow accumulates in Antarctica, we analyze daily surface elevation recorded by an automatic laser scanner. We show that new snow often accumulates in thick patches covering a small fraction of the surface. Most patches are removed by erosion within weeks, implying that only a few contribute to the snowpack. This explains the heterogeneity on the surface and in the snowpack. These findings are important for surface mass and energy balance, photochemistry, and ice core interpretation.
Nicolas Champollion, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Éric Lefebvre, Giovanni Macelloni, Frédérique Rémy, and Michel Fily
The Cryosphere, 13, 1215–1232, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1215-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1215-2019, 2019
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The snow density close to the surface has been retrieved from satellite observations at Dome C on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. It shows a marked decrease between 2002 and 2011 of about 10 kg m-3 yr-1. This trend has been confirmed by in situ measurements and other satellite observations though no long-term meteorological evolution has been found. These results have implications for surface mass balance and energy budget.
Till J. W. Wagner, Fiamma Straneo, Clark G. Richards, Donald A. Slater, Laura A. Stevens, Sarah B. Das, and Hanumant Singh
The Cryosphere, 13, 911–925, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-911-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-911-2019, 2019
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This study shows how complex and varied the processes are that determine the frontal position of tidewater glaciers. Rather than uniform melt or calving rates, a single (medium-sized) glacier can feature regions that retreat almost exclusively due to melting and other regions that retreat only due to calving. This has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of how glaciers retreat or advance.
Michael Prince, Alexandre Roy, Ludovic Brucker, Alain Royer, Youngwook Kim, and Tianjie Zhao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 2055–2067, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-2055-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-2055-2018, 2018
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This paper presents the weekly polar-gridded Aquarius passive L-band surface freeze–thaw product (FT-AP) distributed on the EASE-Grid 2.0 with a resolution of 36 km. To evaluate the product, we compared it with the resampled 37 GHz FT Earth Science Data Record during the overlapping period between 2011 and 2014. The FT-AP ensures, with the SMAP mission that is still in operation, an L-band passive FT monitoring continuum with NASA’s space-borne radiometers, for a period beginning in August 2011.
Andrew G. Williamson, Alison F. Banwell, Ian C. Willis, and Neil S. Arnold
The Cryosphere, 12, 3045–3065, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3045-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3045-2018, 2018
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A new approach is presented for automatically monitoring changes to area and volume of surface lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet using Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 satellite data. The dual-satellite record improves on previous work since it tracks changes to more lakes (including small ones), identifies more lake-drainage events, and has higher precision. The results also show that small lakes are important in ice-sheet hydrology as they route more surface run-off into the ice sheet than large lakes.
Rajashree Tri Datta, Marco Tedesco, Cecile Agosta, Xavier Fettweis, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 12, 2901–2922, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2901-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2901-2018, 2018
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Surface melting on the East Antarctic Peninsula (East AP) has been linked to ice shelf collapse, including the Larsen A (1995) and Larsen B (2002) ice shelves. Regional climate models (RCMs) are a valuable tool to understand how wind patterns and general warming can impact the stability of ice shelves through surface melt. Here, we evaluate one such RCM (Modèle Atmosphérique Régionale) over the East AP, including the remaining Larsen C ice shelf, by comparing it to satellite and ground data.
Alexander Kokhanovsky, Maxim Lamare, Biagio Di Mauro, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Marie Dumont, François Tuzet, Carsten Brockmann, and Jason E. Box
The Cryosphere, 12, 2371–2382, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2371-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2371-2018, 2018
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This work presents a new technique with which to derive the snow microphysical and optical properties from snow spectral reflectance measurements. The technique is robust and easy to use, and it does not require the extraction of snow samples from a given snowpack. It can be used in processing satellite imagery over extended fresh dry, wet and polluted snowfields.
Ghislain Picard, Melody Sandells, and Henning Löwe
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2763–2788, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2763-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2763-2018, 2018
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The Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer (SMRT) is a novel model developed to calculate how microwaves are scattered and emitted by snow. The model is built from separate, interconnecting modules to make it easy to compare different aspects of the theory. SMRT is the first model to allow a choice of how to represent the microstructure of the snow, which is extremely important, and has been used to unite multiple previous studies. This model will ultimately be used to observe snow from space.
Alexandra Touzeau, Amaëlle Landais, Samuel Morin, Laurent Arnaud, and Ghislain Picard
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2393–2418, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2393-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2393-2018, 2018
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We introduced a new module of water vapor diffusion into the snowpack model Crocus. Vapor transport locally modifies the density of snow layers, possibly influencing compaction. It also affects the original isotopic signature of snow layers. We also introduced water isotopes (𝛿18O) in the model. Over 10 years, the modeled attenuation of isotopic variations due to vapor diffusion is 7–18 % lower than the observations. Thus, other processes are required to explain the total attenuation.
Fifi Ibrahime Adodo, Frédérique Remy, and Ghislain Picard
The Cryosphere, 12, 1767–1778, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1767-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1767-2018, 2018
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In Antarctica, the seasonal cycle of the backscatter behaves differently at high and low frequencies, peaking in winter and in summer, respectively. At the intermediate frequency, some areas behave analogously to low frequency in terms of the seasonal cycle, but other areas behave analogously to high frequency. This calls into question the empirical relationships often used to correct elevation changes from radar penetration into the snowpack using backscatter.
Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Ghislain Picard, Thomas Münch, Thomas Laepple, Barbara Stenni, Giuliano Dreossi, Alexey Ekaykin, Laurent Arnaud, Christophe Genthon, Alexandra Touzeau, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, and Jean Jouzel
The Cryosphere, 12, 1745–1766, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1745-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1745-2018, 2018
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Ice core isotopic records rely on the knowledge of the processes involved in the archival processes of the snow. In the East Antarctic Plateau, post-deposition processes strongly affect the signal found in the surface and buried snow compared to the initial climatic signal. We evaluate the different contributions to the surface snow isotopic composition between the precipitation and the exchanges with the atmosphere and the variability of the isotopic signal found in profiles from snow pits.
Francois Tuzet, Marie Dumont, Matthieu Lafaysse, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Didier Voisin, Yves Lejeune, Luc Charrois, Pierre Nabat, and Samuel Morin
The Cryosphere, 11, 2633–2653, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2633-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2633-2017, 2017
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Light-absorbing impurities deposited on snow, such as soot or dust, strongly modify its evolution. We implemented impurity deposition and evolution in a detailed snowpack model, thereby expanding the reach of such models into addressing the subtle interplays between snow physics and impurities' optical properties. Model results were evaluated based on innovative field observations at an Alpine site. This allows future investigations in the fields of climate, hydrology and avalanche prediction.
Ron Kwok, Nathan T. Kurtz, Ludovic Brucker, Alvaro Ivanoff, Thomas Newman, Sinead L. Farrell, Joshua King, Stephen Howell, Melinda A. Webster, John Paden, Carl Leuschen, Joseph A. MacGregor, Jacqueline Richter-Menge, Jeremy Harbeck, and Mark Tschudi
The Cryosphere, 11, 2571–2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2571-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2571-2017, 2017
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Since 2009, the ultra-wideband snow radar on Operation IceBridge has acquired data in annual campaigns conducted during the Arctic and Antarctic springs. Existing snow depth retrieval algorithms differ in the way the air–snow and snow–ice interfaces are detected and localized in the radar returns and in how the system limitations are addressed. Here, we assess five retrieval algorithms by comparisons with field measurements, ground-based campaigns, and analyzed fields of snow depth.
Marie Dumont, Laurent Arnaud, Ghislain Picard, Quentin Libois, Yves Lejeune, Pierre Nabat, Didier Voisin, and Samuel Morin
The Cryosphere, 11, 1091–1110, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1091-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1091-2017, 2017
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Snow spectral albedo in the visible/near-infrared range has been continuously measured during a winter season at Col de Porte alpine site (French Alps; 45.30° N, 5.77°E; 1325 m a.s.l.). This study highlights that the variations of spectral albedo can be successfully explained by variations of the following snow surface variables: snow-specific surface area, effective light-absorbing impurities content, presence of liquid water and slope.
Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Ghislain Picard, Thomas Münch, Thomas Laepple, Barbara Stenni, Giuliano Dreossi, Alexey Ekaykin, Laurent Arnaud, Christophe Genthon, Alexandra Touzeau, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, and Jean Jouzel
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-263, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-263, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Ice core isotopic records rely on the knowledge of the processes involved in the archival of the snow. In the East Antarctic Plateau, post-deposition processes strongly affect the signal found in the surface and buried snow compared to the initial climatic signal. We evaluate the different contributions to the surface snow isotopic composition between the precipitation and the exchanges with the atmosphere and the variability of the isotopic signal found in profiles from snow pits.
Ghislain Picard, Quentin Libois, and Laurent Arnaud
The Cryosphere, 10, 2655–2672, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2655-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2655-2016, 2016
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The absorption of visible light in ice is very weak but its precise value is unknown. By measuring the profile of light intensity in snow, Warren and Brand (2006) deduced that light is attenuated by a factor 2 per kilometer in pure ice at a wavelength of 400 nm. We replicated their experiment on a large number of samples and found that ice absorption is at least 10 times stronger. The paper explores various potential physical and statistical biases that could impact the experiment.
Josué Bock, Joël Savarino, and Ghislain Picard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12531–12550, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12531-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12531-2016, 2016
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We develop a physically based parameterisation of the co-condensation process. Our model includes solid-state diffusion within a snow grain. It reproduces with good agreement the nitrate measurement in surface snow. Winter and summer concentrations are driven respectively by thermodynamic equilibrium and co-condensation. Adsorbed nitrate likely accounts for a minor part. This work shows that co-condensation is required to explain the chemical composition of snow undergoing temperature gradient.
Kelly M. Brunt, Thomas A. Neumann, Jason M. Amundson, Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh, Mahsa S. Moussavi, Kaitlin M. Walsh, William B. Cook, and Thorsten Markus
The Cryosphere, 10, 1707–1719, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1707-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1707-2016, 2016
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This paper highlights results from a 2014 airborne laser altimetry campaign over Alaskan glaciers. The study was conducted in support of a NASA satellite mission (ICESat-2, scheduled to launch in 2017). The study indicates that the planned beam configuration for ICESat-2 is ideal for determining local slope, which is critical for the determination of ice-sheet elevation change. Results also suggest that ICESat-2 will contribute significantly to glacier studies in the mid-latitudes.
Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Jean-Michel Panel, and Samuel Morin
The Cryosphere, 10, 1495–1511, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1495-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1495-2016, 2016
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A cost-effective automatic laser scan has been built to measure snow depth spatio-temporal variations. Deployed in the Alps and in Dome C (Antarctica), two devices acquired daily scans covering a surface area of 100–150 m2. The precision and long-term stability of the measurements are about 1 cm and the accuracy is better than 5 cm. These high performances are particularly suited at Dome C, where it was possible to reveal that most of the accumulation in the year 2015 stems from a single event.
Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Christophe Genthon, Erik Kerstel, Samir Kassi, Laurent Arnaud, Ghislain Picard, Frederic Prie, Olivier Cattani, Hans-Christian Steen-Larsen, Etienne Vignon, and Peter Cermak
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8521–8538, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8521-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8521-2016, 2016
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Climatic conditions in Concordia are very cold (−55 °C in average) and very dry, imposing difficult conditions to measure the water vapour isotopic composition. New developments in infrared spectroscopy enable now the measurement of isotopic composition in water vapour traces (down to 20 ppmv). Here we present the results results of a first campaign of measurement of isotopic composition of water vapour in Concordia, the site where the 800 000 years long ice core was drilled.
Ghislain Picard, Quentin Libois, Laurent Arnaud, Gauthier Verin, and Marie Dumont
The Cryosphere, 10, 1297–1316, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1297-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1297-2016, 2016
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Albedo of snow surfaces depends on snow grain size. By measuring albedo during 3 years at Dome C in Antarctica with an automatic spectroradiometer, we were able to monitor the snow specific surface area and show an overall growth of the grains in spring and summer followed by an accumulation of small-grained snow from mid-summer. This study focuses on the uncertainties due to the spectroradiometer and concludes that the observed variations are significant with respect to the precision.
Luc Charrois, Emmanuel Cosme, Marie Dumont, Matthieu Lafaysse, Samuel Morin, Quentin Libois, and Ghislain Picard
The Cryosphere, 10, 1021–1038, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1021-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1021-2016, 2016
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This study investigates the assimilation of optical reflectances, snowdepth data and both combined into a multilayer snowpack model. Data assimilation is performed with an ensemble-based method, the Sequential Importance Resampling Particle filter. Experiments assimilating only synthetic data are conducted at one point in the French Alps, the Col du Lautaret, over five hydrological years. Results of the assimilation experiments show improvements of the snowpack bulk variables estimates.
Lucie Bazin, Amaelle Landais, Emilie Capron, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Catherine Ritz, Ghislain Picard, Jean Jouzel, Marie Dumont, Markus Leuenberger, and Frédéric Prié
Clim. Past, 12, 729–748, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-729-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-729-2016, 2016
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We present new measurements of δO2⁄N2 and δ18Oatm performed on well-conserved ice from EDC covering MIS5 and between 380 and 800 ka. The combination of the observation of a 100 ka periodicity in the new δO2⁄N2 record with a MIS5 multi-site multi-proxy study has revealed a potential influence of local climatic parameters on δO2⁄N2. Moreover, we propose that the varying delay between d18Oatm and precession for the last 800 ka is affected by the occurrence of ice sheet discharge events.
Alexandre Roy, Alain Royer, Olivier St-Jean-Rondeau, Benoit Montpetit, Ghislain Picard, Alex Mavrovic, Nicolas Marchand, and Alexandre Langlois
The Cryosphere, 10, 623–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-623-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-623-2016, 2016
A. Pope, T. A. Scambos, M. Moussavi, M. Tedesco, M. Willis, D. Shean, and S. Grigsby
The Cryosphere, 10, 15–27, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-15-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-15-2016, 2016
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Liquid water stored on the surface of ice sheets and glaciers, such as that in surface (supraglacial) lakes, plays a key role in the glacial hydrological system. Multispectral remote sensing can be used to detect lakes and estimate their depth. Here, we use in situ data to assess lake depth retrieval using the recently launched Landsat 8. We validate Landsat 8-derived depths and provide suggestions for future applications. We apply our method to a case study are in Greenland for summer 2014.
Q. Libois, G. Picard, L. Arnaud, M. Dumont, M. Lafaysse, S. Morin, and E. Lefebvre
The Cryosphere, 9, 2383–2398, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2383-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2383-2015, 2015
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The albedo and surface energy budget of the Antarctic Plateau are largely determined by snow specific surface area. The latter experiences substantial daily-to-seasonal variations in response to meteorological conditions. In particular, it decreases by a factor three in summer, causing a drop in albedo. These variations are monitored from in situ and remote sensing observations at Dome C. For the first time, they are also simulated with a snowpack evolution model adapted to Antarctic conditions.
C. Agosta, X. Fettweis, and R. Datta
The Cryosphere, 9, 2311–2321, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2311-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2311-2015, 2015
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Estimates of the Antarctic surface mass balance with regional climate models (RCMs) require proper fields for forcing; hence we evaluate 41 CMIP5 climate models over Antarctica and include six reanalyses. Most of the models are biased compared to ERA-Interim, ACCESS1-3 being the best choice for forcing RCMs. Climate change is less sensitive to global warming than it is to the present-day simulated sea ice and to the feedback between sea-ice decrease and temperature increase around Antarctica.
H. Löwe and G. Picard
The Cryosphere, 9, 2101–2117, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2101-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2101-2015, 2015
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The paper establishes a theoretical link between two widely used microwave models for snow. The scattering formulations from both models are unified by reformulating their microstructure models in a common framework. The results show that the scattering formulations can be considered equivalent, if exactly the same microstructure model is used. The paper also provides a method to measure a hitherto unknown input parameter for the microwave models from tomography images of snow.
N. Ivanova, L. T. Pedersen, R. T. Tonboe, S. Kern, G. Heygster, T. Lavergne, A. Sørensen, R. Saldo, G. Dybkjær, L. Brucker, and M. Shokr
The Cryosphere, 9, 1797–1817, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1797-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1797-2015, 2015
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Thirty sea ice algorithms are inter-compared and evaluated systematically over low and high sea ice concentrations, as well as in the presence of thin ice and melt ponds. A hybrid approach is suggested to retrieve sea ice concentration globally for climate monitoring purposes. This approach consists of a combination of two algorithms plus the implementation of a dynamic tie point and atmospheric correction of input brightness temperatures.
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
T. A. Scambos, E. Berthier, T. Haran, C. A. Shuman, A. J. Cook, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, and J. Bohlander
The Cryosphere, 8, 2135–2145, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2135-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2135-2014, 2014
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This study of one of the most rapidly changing glacier regions on earth -- the Antarctic Peninsula -- uses two types of satellite data to measure the rates of ice loss in detail for the individual glaciers. The satellite data is laser altimetry from ICESat and stereo image DEM differences. The results show that 24..9 ± 7.8 billion tons of ice are lost from the region north of 66°S on the peninsula each year. The majority of the data cover 2003-2008.
N. S. Arnold, A. F. Banwell, and I. C. Willis
The Cryosphere, 8, 1149–1160, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1149-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1149-2014, 2014
G. Picard, A. Royer, L. Arnaud, and M. Fily
The Cryosphere, 8, 1105–1119, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1105-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1105-2014, 2014
L. Brucker, E. P. Dinnat, and L. S. Koenig
The Cryosphere, 8, 905–913, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-905-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-905-2014, 2014
Q. Libois, G. Picard, J. L. France, L. Arnaud, M. Dumont, C. M. Carmagnola, and M. D. King
The Cryosphere, 7, 1803–1818, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1803-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1803-2013, 2013
K. Kawamura, J. P. Severinghaus, M. R. Albert, Z. R. Courville, M. A. Fahnestock, T. Scambos, E. Shields, and C. A. Shuman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11141–11155, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11141-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11141-2013, 2013
G. Picard, L. Brucker, A. Roy, F. Dupont, M. Fily, A. Royer, and C. Harlow
Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 1061–1078, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-1061-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-1061-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Discipline: Ice sheets | Subject: Ice Shelf
Extreme melting at Greenland's largest floating ice tongue
The complex basal morphology and ice dynamics of the Nansen Ice Shelf, East Antarctica
Responses of Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers to Melt and Sliding Parameterizations
Unveiling spatial variability within the Dotson Melt Channel through high-resolution basal melt rates from the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica
Brief communication: Is vertical shear in an ice shelf (still) negligible?
Coupled ice/ocean interactions during the future retreat of West Antarctic ice streams
Change in Antarctic ice shelf area from 2009 to 2019
Predicting ocean-induced ice-shelf melt rates using deep learning
Glaciological history and structural evolution of the Shackleton Ice Shelf system, East Antarctica, over the past 60 years
An assessment of basal melt parameterisations for Antarctic ice shelves
Surface melt on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, East Antarctica (2003–2021)
The effect of hydrology and crevasse wall contact on calving
On the evolution of an ice shelf melt channel at the base of Filchner Ice Shelf, from observations and viscoelastic modeling
Ongoing grounding line retreat and fracturing initiated at the Petermann Glacier ice shelf, Greenland, after 2016
Shear-margin melting causes stronger transient ice discharge than ice-stream melting in idealized simulations
Basal melt of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Automatic delineation of cracks with Sentinel-1 interferometry for monitoring ice shelf damage and calving
Weakening of the pinning point buttressing Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica
Ice-shelf ocean boundary layer dynamics from large-eddy simulations
The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
Two decades of dynamic change and progressive destabilization on the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf
Mechanics and dynamics of pinning points on the Shirase Coast, West Antarctica
Evidence for a grounding line fan at the onset of a basal channel under the ice shelf of Support Force Glacier, Antarctica, revealed by reflection seismics
The 2020 Larsen C Ice Shelf surface melt is a 40-year record high
Diagnosing the sensitivity of grounding-line flux to changes in sub-ice-shelf melting
A protocol for calculating basal melt rates in the ISMIP6 Antarctic ice sheet projections
Lateral meltwater transfer across an Antarctic ice shelf
Ice shelf rift propagation: stability, three-dimensional effects, and the role of marginal weakening
Getz Ice Shelf melt enhanced by freshwater discharge from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar for tide modelling in Antarctic ice-shelf grounding zones
Ice shelf basal melt rates from a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) record for Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica
Spatial and temporal variations in basal melting at Nivlisen ice shelf, East Antarctica, derived from phase-sensitive radars
Past and future dynamics of the Brunt Ice Shelf from seabed bathymetry and ice shelf geometry
Ole Zeising, Niklas Neckel, Nils Dörr, Veit Helm, Daniel Steinhage, Ralph Timmermann, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 18, 1333–1357, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024, 2024
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The 79° North Glacier in Greenland has experienced significant changes over the last decades. Due to extreme melt rates, the ice has thinned significantly in the vicinity of the grounding line, where a large subglacial channel has formed since 2010. We attribute these changes to warm ocean currents and increased subglacial discharge from surface melt. However, basal melting has decreased since 2018, indicating colder water inflow into the cavity below the glacier.
Christine F. Dow, Derek Mueller, Peter Wray, Drew Friedrichs, Alexander L. Forrest, Jasmin B. McInerney, Jamin Greenbaum, Donald D. Blankenship, Choon Ki Lee, and Won Sang Lee
The Cryosphere, 18, 1105–1123, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1105-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1105-2024, 2024
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Ice shelves are a key control on Antarctic contribution to sea level rise. We examine the Nansen Ice Shelf in East Antarctica using a combination of field-based and satellite data. We find the basal topography of the ice shelf is highly variable, only partially visible in satellite datasets. We also find that the thinnest region of the ice shelf is altered over time by ice flow rates and ocean melting. These processes can cause fractures to form that eventually result in large calving events.
Ian Joughin, Daniel Shapero, and Pierre Dutrieux
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2929, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2929, 2024
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Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are losing ice to the ocean rapidly as warmer water melts their floating ice shelves. Models help determine how much such glaciers will contribute to sea level. We find that ice loss varies in direct proportion to how much melting the ice shelves are subjected to. Our estimated losses are sensitive to how much the friction beneath the glacier is reduced before it goes afloat. These glaciers should increase sea level by less than 10 cm in the next 200 years.
Ann-Sofie Priergaard Zinck, Bert Wouters, Erwin Lambert, and Stef Lhermitte
The Cryosphere, 17, 3785–3801, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3785-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3785-2023, 2023
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The ice shelves in Antarctica are melting from below, which puts their stability at risk. Therefore, it is important to observe how much and where they are melting. In this study we use high-resolution satellite imagery to derive 50 m resolution basal melt rates of the Dotson Ice Shelf. With the high resolution of our product we are able to uncover small-scale features which may in the future help us to understand the state and fate of the Antarctic ice shelves and their (in)stability.
Chris Miele, Timothy C. Bartholomaus, and Ellyn M. Enderlin
The Cryosphere, 17, 2701–2704, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2701-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2701-2023, 2023
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Vertical shear stress (the stress orientation usually associated with vertical gradients in horizontal velocities) is a key component of the stress balance of ice shelves. However, partly due to historical assumptions, vertical shear is often misspoken of today as
negligiblein ice shelf models. We address this miscommunication, providing conceptual guidance regarding this often misrepresented stress. Fundamentally, vertical shear is required to balance thickness gradients in ice shelves.
David T. Bett, Alexander T. Bradley, C. Rosie Williams, Paul R. Holland, Robert J. Arthern, and Daniel N. Goldberg
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-77, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-77, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for TC
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A new specialised ice/ocean coupled model simulates the future ice sheet evolution in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica. The model predicts substantial ocean-driven ice retreat over the 125-year simulations. The future of small ‘pinning points’ (islands of grounded ice) are an important control on this evolution. Ocean melting is crucial in ungrounding these pinning points, providing the mechanism by which future climate change may affect the sea level contribution from this sector.
Julia R. Andreasen, Anna E. Hogg, and Heather L. Selley
The Cryosphere, 17, 2059–2072, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2059-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2059-2023, 2023
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There are few long-term, high spatial resolution observations of ice shelf change in Antarctica over the past 3 decades. In this study, we use high spatial resolution observations to map the annual calving front location on 34 ice shelves around Antarctica from 2009 to 2019 using satellite data. The results provide a comprehensive assessment of ice front migration across Antarctica over the last decade.
Sebastian H. R. Rosier, Christopher Y. S. Bull, Wai L. Woo, and G. Hilmar Gudmundsson
The Cryosphere, 17, 499–518, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-499-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-499-2023, 2023
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Future ice loss from Antarctica could raise sea levels by several metres, and key to this is the rate at which the ocean melts the ice sheet from below. Existing methods for modelling this process are either computationally expensive or very simplified. We present a new approach using machine learning to mimic the melt rates calculated by an ocean model but in a fraction of the time. This approach may provide a powerful alternative to existing methods, without compromising on accuracy or speed.
Sarah S. Thompson, Bernd Kulessa, Adrian Luckman, Jacqueline A. Halpin, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Tyler Pelle, Feras Habbal, Jingxue Guo, Lenneke M. Jong, Jason L. Roberts, Bo Sun, and Donald D. Blankenship
The Cryosphere, 17, 157–174, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-157-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-157-2023, 2023
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We use satellite imagery and ice penetrating radar to investigate the stability of the Shackleton system in East Antarctica. We find significant changes in surface structures across the system and observe a significant increase in ice flow speed (up to 50 %) on the floating part of Scott Glacier. We conclude that knowledge remains woefully insufficient to explain recent observed changes in the grounded and floating regions of the system.
Clara Burgard, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Ronja Reese, Adrian Jenkins, and Pierre Mathiot
The Cryosphere, 16, 4931–4975, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4931-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4931-2022, 2022
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The ocean-induced melt at the base of the floating ice shelves around Antarctica is one of the largest uncertainty factors in the Antarctic contribution to future sea-level rise. We assess the performance of several existing parameterisations in simulating basal melt rates on a circum-Antarctic scale, using an ocean simulation resolving the cavities below the shelves as our reference. We find that the simple quadratic slope-independent and plume parameterisations yield the best compromise.
Dominic Saunderson, Andrew Mackintosh, Felicity McCormack, Richard Selwyn Jones, and Ghislain Picard
The Cryosphere, 16, 4553–4569, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4553-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4553-2022, 2022
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We investigate the variability in surface melt on the Shackleton Ice Shelf in East Antarctica over the last 2 decades (2003–2021). Using daily satellite observations and the machine learning approach of a self-organising map, we identify nine distinct spatial patterns of melt. These patterns allow comparisons of melt within and across melt seasons and highlight the importance of both air temperatures and local controls such as topography, katabatic winds, and albedo in driving surface melt.
Maryam Zarrinderakht, Christian Schoof, and Anthony Peirce
The Cryosphere, 16, 4491–4512, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4491-2022, 2022
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Iceberg calving is the reason for more than half of mass loss in both Greenland and Antarctica and indirectly contributes to sea-level rise. Our study models iceberg calving by linear elastic fracture mechanics and uses a boundary element method to compute crack tip propagation. This model handles the contact condition: preventing crack faces from penetrating into each other and enabling the derivation of calving laws for different forms of hydrological forcing.
Angelika Humbert, Julia Christmann, Hugh F. J. Corr, Veit Helm, Lea-Sophie Höyns, Coen Hofstede, Ralf Müller, Niklas Neckel, Keith W. Nicholls, Timm Schultz, Daniel Steinhage, Michael Wolovick, and Ole Zeising
The Cryosphere, 16, 4107–4139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4107-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4107-2022, 2022
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Ice shelves are normally flat structures that fringe the Antarctic continent. At some locations they have channels incised into their underside. On Filchner Ice Shelf, such a channel is more than 50 km long and up to 330 m high. We conducted field measurements of basal melt rates and found a maximum of 2 m yr−1. Simulations represent the geometry evolution of the channel reasonably well. There is no reason to assume that this type of melt channel is destabilizing ice shelves.
Romain Millan, Jeremie Mouginot, Anna Derkacheva, Eric Rignot, Pietro Milillo, Enrico Ciraci, Luigi Dini, and Anders Bjørk
The Cryosphere, 16, 3021–3031, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3021-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3021-2022, 2022
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We detect for the first time a dramatic retreat of the grounding line of Petermann Glacier, a major glacier of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Using satellite data, we also observe a speedup of the glacier and a fracturing of the ice shelf. This sequence of events is coherent with ocean warming in this region and suggests that Petermann Glacier has initiated a phase of destabilization, which is of prime importance for the stability and future contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet to sea level rise.
Johannes Feldmann, Ronja Reese, Ricarda Winkelmann, and Anders Levermann
The Cryosphere, 16, 1927–1940, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1927-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1927-2022, 2022
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We use a numerical model to simulate the flow of a simplified, buttressed Antarctic-type outlet glacier with an attached ice shelf. We find that after a few years of perturbation such a glacier responds much stronger to melting under the ice-shelf shear margins than to melting in the central fast streaming part of the ice shelf. This study explains the underlying physical mechanism which might gain importance in the future if melt rates under the Antarctic ice shelves continue to increase.
Ole Zeising, Daniel Steinhage, Keith W. Nicholls, Hugh F. J. Corr, Craig L. Stewart, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 16, 1469–1482, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1469-2022, 2022
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Remote-sensing-derived basal melt rates of ice shelves are of great importance due to their capability to cover larger areas. We performed in situ measurements with a phase-sensitive radar on the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, showing moderate melt rates and low small-scale spatial variability. The comparison with remote-sensing-based melt rates revealed large differences caused by the estimation of vertical strain rates from remote sensing velocity fields that modern fields can overcome.
Ludivine Libert, Jan Wuite, and Thomas Nagler
The Cryosphere, 16, 1523–1542, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1523-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1523-2022, 2022
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Open fractures are important to monitor because they weaken the ice shelf structure. We propose a novel approach using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry for automatic delineation of ice shelf cracks. The method is applied to Sentinel-1 images of Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and the propagation of the North Rift, which led to iceberg calving in February 2021, is traced. It is also shown that SAR interferometry is more sensitive to rifting than SAR backscatter and optical imagery.
Christian T. Wild, Karen E. Alley, Atsuhiro Muto, Martin Truffer, Ted A. Scambos, and Erin C. Pettit
The Cryosphere, 16, 397–417, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-397-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-397-2022, 2022
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Thwaites Glacier has the potential to significantly raise Antarctica's contribution to global sea-level rise by the end of this century. Here, we use satellite measurements of surface elevation to show that its floating part is close to losing contact with an underwater ridge that currently acts to stabilize. We then use computer models of ice flow to simulate the predicted unpinning, which show that accelerated ice discharge into the ocean follows the breakup of the floating part.
Carolyn Branecky Begeman, Xylar Asay-Davis, and Luke Van Roekel
The Cryosphere, 16, 277–295, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-277-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-277-2022, 2022
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This study uses ocean modeling at ultra-high resolution to study the small-scale ocean mixing that controls ice-shelf melting. It offers some insights into the relationship between ice-shelf melting and ocean temperature far from the ice base, which may help us project how fast ice will melt when ocean waters entering the cavity warm. This study adds to a growing body of research that indicates we need a more sophisticated treatment of ice-shelf melting in coarse-resolution ocean models.
Weiran Li, Stef Lhermitte, and Paco López-Dekker
The Cryosphere, 15, 5309–5322, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5309-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5309-2021, 2021
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Surface meltwater lakes have been observed on several Antarctic ice shelves in field studies and optical images. Meltwater lakes can drain and refreeze, increasing the fragility of the ice shelves. The combination of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter and interferometric information (InSAR) can provide the cryosphere community with the possibility to continuously assess the dynamics of the meltwater lakes, potentially helping to facilitate the study of ice shelves in a changing climate.
Karen E. Alley, Christian T. Wild, Adrian Luckman, Ted A. Scambos, Martin Truffer, Erin C. Pettit, Atsuhiro Muto, Bruce Wallin, Marin Klinger, Tyler Sutterley, Sarah F. Child, Cyrus Hulen, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Michelle Maclennan, Eric Keenan, and Devon Dunmire
The Cryosphere, 15, 5187–5203, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5187-2021, 2021
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We present a 20-year, satellite-based record of velocity and thickness change on the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS), the largest remaining floating extension of Thwaites Glacier (TG). TG holds the single greatest control on sea-level rise over the next few centuries, so it is important to understand changes on the TEIS, which controls much of TG's flow into the ocean. Our results suggest that the TEIS is progressively destabilizing and is likely to disintegrate over the next few decades.
Holly Still and Christina Hulbe
The Cryosphere, 15, 2647–2665, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2647-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2647-2021, 2021
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Pinning points, locations where floating ice shelves run aground, modify ice flow and thickness. We use a model to quantify the Ross Ice Shelf and tributary ice stream response to a group of pinning points. Ice stream sensitivity to pinning points is conditioned by basal drag, and thus basal properties, upstream of the grounding line. Without the pinning points, a redistribution of resistive stresses supports faster flow and increased mass flux but with a negligible change in total ice volume.
Coen Hofstede, Sebastian Beyer, Hugh Corr, Olaf Eisen, Tore Hattermann, Veit Helm, Niklas Neckel, Emma C. Smith, Daniel Steinhage, Ole Zeising, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 15, 1517–1535, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1517-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1517-2021, 2021
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Support Force Glacier rapidly flows into Filcher Ice Shelf of Antarctica. As we know little about this glacier and its subglacial drainage, we used seismic energy to map the transition area from grounded to floating ice where a drainage channel enters the ocean cavity. Soft sediments close to the grounding line are probably transported by this drainage channel. The constant ice thickness over the steeply dipping seabed of the ocean cavity suggests a stable transition and little basal melting.
Suzanne Bevan, Adrian Luckman, Harry Hendon, and Guomin Wang
The Cryosphere, 14, 3551–3564, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3551-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3551-2020, 2020
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In February 2020, along with record-breaking high temperatures in the region, satellite images showed that the surface of the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula was experiencing a lot of melt. Using archived satellite data we show that this melt was greater than any in the past 40 years. The extreme melt followed unusual weather patterns further north, highlighting the importance of long-range links between the tropics and high latitudes and the impact on ice-shelf stability.
Tong Zhang, Stephen F. Price, Matthew J. Hoffman, Mauro Perego, and Xylar Asay-Davis
The Cryosphere, 14, 3407–3424, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3407-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3407-2020, 2020
Nicolas C. Jourdain, Xylar Asay-Davis, Tore Hattermann, Fiammetta Straneo, Hélène Seroussi, Christopher M. Little, and Sophie Nowicki
The Cryosphere, 14, 3111–3134, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3111-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3111-2020, 2020
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To predict the future Antarctic contribution to sea level rise, we need to use ice sheet models. The Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for AR6 (ISMIP6) builds an ensemble of ice sheet projections constrained by atmosphere and ocean projections from the 6th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). In this work, we present and assess a method to derive ice shelf basal melting in ISMIP6 from the CMIP6 ocean outputs, and we give examples of projected melt rates.
Rebecca Dell, Neil Arnold, Ian Willis, Alison Banwell, Andrew Williamson, Hamish Pritchard, and Andrew Orr
The Cryosphere, 14, 2313–2330, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2313-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2313-2020, 2020
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A semi-automated method is developed from pre-existing work to track surface water bodies across Antarctic ice shelves over time, using data from Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8. This method is applied to the Nivlisen Ice Shelf for the 2016–2017 melt season. The results reveal two large linear meltwater systems, which hold 63 % of the peak total surface meltwater volume on 26 January 2017. These meltwater systems migrate towards the ice shelf front as the melt season progresses.
Bradley Paul Lipovsky
The Cryosphere, 14, 1673–1683, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1673-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1673-2020, 2020
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Ice shelves promote the stability of marine ice sheets and therefore reduce the ice sheet contribution to sea level rise. Ice shelf rifts are through-cutting fractures that jeopardize this stabilizing tendency. Here, I carry out the first-ever 3D modeling of ice shelf rifts. I find that the overall ice shelf geometry – particularly the ice shelf margins – alters rift stability. This work paves the way to a more realistic depiction of rifting in ice sheet models.
Wei Wei, Donald D. Blankenship, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Noel Gourmelen, Christine F. Dow, Thomas G. Richter, Chad A. Greene, Duncan A. Young, SangHoon Lee, Tae-Wan Kim, Won Sang Lee, and Karen M. Assmann
The Cryosphere, 14, 1399–1408, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1399-2020, 2020
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Getz Ice Shelf is the largest meltwater source from Antarctica of the Southern Ocean. This study compares the relative importance of the meltwater production of Getz from both ocean and subglacial sources. We show that basal melt rates are elevated where bathymetric troughs provide pathways for warm Circumpolar Deep Water to enter the Getz Ice Shelf cavity. In particular, we find that subshelf melting is enhanced where subglacially discharged fresh water flows across the grounding line.
Christian T. Wild, Oliver J. Marsh, and Wolfgang Rack
The Cryosphere, 13, 3171–3191, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3171-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3171-2019, 2019
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In Antarctica, ocean tides control the motion of ice sheets near the coastline as well as melt rates underneath the floating ice. By combining the spatial advantage of rare but highly accurate satellite images with the temporal advantage of tide-prediction models, vertical displacement of floating ice due to ocean tides can now be predicted accurately. This allows the detailed study of ice-flow dynamics in areas that matter the most to the stability of Antarctica's ice sheets.
David E. Shean, Ian R. Joughin, Pierre Dutrieux, Benjamin E. Smith, and Etienne Berthier
The Cryosphere, 13, 2633–2656, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2633-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2633-2019, 2019
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We produced an 8-year, high-resolution DEM record for Pine Island Glacier (PIG), a site of substantial Antarctic mass loss in recent decades. We developed methods to study the spatiotemporal evolution of ice shelf basal melting, which is responsible for ~ 60 % of PIG mass loss. We present shelf-wide basal melt rates and document relative melt rates for kilometer-scale basal channels and keels, offering new indirect observations of ice–ocean interaction beneath a vulnerable ice shelf.
Katrin Lindbäck, Geir Moholdt, Keith W. Nicholls, Tore Hattermann, Bhanu Pratap, Meloth Thamban, and Kenichi Matsuoka
The Cryosphere, 13, 2579–2595, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2579-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2579-2019, 2019
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In this study, we used a ground-penetrating radar technique to measure melting at high precision under Nivlisen, an ice shelf in central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. We found that summer-warmed ocean surface waters can increase melting close to the ice shelf front. Our study shows the use of and need for measurements in the field to monitor Antarctica's coastal margins; these detailed variations in basal melting are not captured in satellite data but are vital to predict future changes.
Dominic A. Hodgson, Tom A. Jordan, Jan De Rydt, Peter T. Fretwell, Samuel A. Seddon, David Becker, Kelly A. Hogan, Andrew M. Smith, and David G. Vaughan
The Cryosphere, 13, 545–556, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-545-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-545-2019, 2019
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The Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica is home to Halley VIa, the latest in a series of six British research stations that have occupied the ice shelf since 1956. A recent rapid growth of rifts in the Brunt Ice Shelf signals the onset of its largest calving event since records began. Here we consider whether this calving event will lead to a new steady state for the ice shelf or an unpinning from the bed, which could predispose it to accelerated flow or collapse.
Cited articles
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Short summary
Ice shelves are thick floating layers of glacier ice extending from the glaciers on land that buttress much of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and help to protect it from losing ice to the ocean. However, the stability of ice shelves is vulnerable to meltwater lakes that form on their surfaces during the summer. This study focuses on the northern George VI Ice Shelf on the western side of the AP, which had an exceptionally long and extensive melt season in 2019/2020 compared to the previous 31 seasons.
Ice shelves are thick floating layers of glacier ice extending from the glaciers on land that...
