Articles | Volume 16, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3971-2022
© Author(s) 2022. 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-16-3971-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Oct 2022
Research article |
| 06 Oct 2022
| 06 Oct 2022
Simulations of firn processes over the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets: 1980–2021
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
Thomas A. Neumann
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
H. Jay Zwally
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
Benjamin E. Smith
Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA,
98105, USA
C. Max Stevens
Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD, 20740, USA
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Benjamin E. Smith, Brooke Medley, Xavier Fettweis, Tyler Sutterley, Patrick Alexander, David Porter, and Marco Tedesco
The Cryosphere, 17, 789–808, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-789-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-789-2023, 2023
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Michael J. MacFerrin, C. Max Stevens, Baptiste Vandecrux, Edwin D. Waddington, and Waleed Abdalati
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Eric Keenan, Nander Wever, Marissa Dattler, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Brooke Medley, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Carleen Reijmer
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Tessa Gorte, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, and Brooke Medley
The Cryosphere, 14, 4719–4733, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4719-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4719-2020, 2020
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Andrew O. Hoffman, Knut Christianson, Daniel Shapero, Benjamin E. Smith, and Ian Joughin
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Baptiste Vandecrux, Ruth Mottram, Peter L. Langen, Robert S. Fausto, Martin Olesen, C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Amber Leeson, Stefan Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Sergey Marchenko, Ward van Pelt, Colin R. Meyer, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Achim Heilig, Samira Samimi, Shawn Marshall, Horst Machguth, Michael MacFerrin, Masashi Niwano, Olivia Miller, Clifford I. Voss, and Jason E. Box
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Michael Studinger, Brooke C. Medley, Kelly M. Brunt, Kimberly A. Casey, Nathan T. Kurtz, Serdar S. Manizade, Thomas A. Neumann, and Thomas B. Overly
The Cryosphere, 14, 3287–3308, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3287-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3287-2020, 2020
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C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Jessica M. D. Lundin, Emma C. Kahle, Annika N. Horlings, Brita I. Horlings, and Edwin D. Waddington
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Short summary
Short summary
Understanding processes in snow (firn), including compaction and airflow, is important for calculating how much mass the ice sheets are losing and for interpreting climate records from ice cores. We have developed the open-source Community Firn Model to simulate these processes. We used it to compare 13 different firn compaction equations and found that they do not agree within 10 %. We also show that including firn compaction in a firn-air model improves the match with data from ice cores.
Vincent Verjans, Amber A. Leeson, Christopher Nemeth, C. Max Stevens, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Brice Noël, and Jan Melchior van Wessem
The Cryosphere, 14, 3017–3032, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3017-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3017-2020, 2020
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Ice sheets are covered by a firn layer, which is the transition stage between fresh snow and ice. Accurate modelling of firn density properties is important in many glaciological aspects. Current models show disagreements, are mostly calibrated to match specific observations of firn density and lack thorough uncertainty analysis. We use a novel calibration method for firn models based on a Bayesian statistical framework, which results in improved model accuracy and in uncertainty evaluation.
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Short summary
Satellite altimeters measure the height or volume change over Earth's ice sheets, but in order to understand how that change translates into ice mass, we must account for various processes at the surface. Specifically, snowfall events generate large, transient increases in surface height, yet snow fall has a relatively low density, which means much of that height change is composed of air. This air signal must be removed from the observed height changes before we can assess ice mass change.
Satellite altimeters measure the height or volume change over Earth's ice sheets, but in order...
