Articles | Volume 16, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3331-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3331-2022
Research article
 | 
25 Aug 2022
Research article |  | 25 Aug 2022

Cloud forcing of surface energy balance from in situ measurements in diverse mountain glacier environments

Jonathan P. Conway, Jakob Abermann, Liss M. Andreassen, Mohd Farooq Azam, Nicolas J. Cullen, Noel Fitzpatrick, Rianne H. Giesen, Kirsty Langley, Shelley MacDonell, Thomas Mölg, Valentina Radić, Carleen H. Reijmer, and Jean-Emmanuel Sicart

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Cited articles

Abermann, J., Van As, D., Wacker, S., Langley, K., Machguth, H., and Fausto, R. S.: Strong contrast in mass and energy balance between a coastal mountain glacier and the Greenland ice sheet, J. Glaciol., 65, 263–269, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.4, 2019. 
Ambach, W.: The influence of cloudiness on the net radiation balance of a snow surface with high albedo, J. Glaciol., 13, 73–84, https://doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000023388, 1974. 
Andreassen, L. M., Van Den Broeke, M. R., Giesen, R. H., and Oerlemans, J.: A 5 year record of surface energy and mass balance from the ablation zone of Storbreen, Norway, J. Glaciol., 54, 245–258, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214308784886199, 2008. 
Azam, M. F., Wagnon, P., Vincent, C., Ramanathan, AL., Favier, V., Mandal, A., and Pottakkal, J. G.: Processes governing the mass balance of Chhota Shigri Glacier (western Himalaya, India) assessed by point-scale surface energy balance measurements, The Cryosphere, 8, 2195–2217, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2195-2014, 2014. 
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Short summary
We used data from automatic weather stations on 16 glaciers to show how clouds influence glacier melt in different climates around the world. We found surface melt was always more frequent when it was cloudy but was not universally faster or slower than under clear-sky conditions. Also, air temperature was related to clouds in opposite ways in different climates – warmer with clouds in cold climates and vice versa. These results will help us improve how we model past and future glacier melt.