How do extreme ENSO events affect Antarctic surface mass balance?

Macha, Jessica M. A.; Mackintosh, Andrew N.; McCormack, Felicity S.; Henley, Benjamin J.; McGregor, Helen V.; van Dalum, Christiaan T.; Purich, Ariaan

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1915-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1915-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1915-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 5

Research article

|

19 May 2025

Research article |

| 19 May 2025

How do extreme ENSO events affect Antarctic surface mass balance?

Jessica M. A. Macha, Andrew N. Mackintosh, Felicity S. McCormack, Benjamin J. Henley, Helen V. McGregor, Christiaan T. van Dalum, and Ariaan Purich

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1915-2025-supplement

Data sets

RACMO2.3p3 monthly SMB, SEB and t2m data for Antarctica (1979–2018) C. T. van Dalum et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5512076

Model code and software

ENSO Extremes Python code used in Macha et al. (2024); The Cryosphere Jessica Macha https://doi.org/10.26180/27092830.v1

Short summary

Extreme El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events have global impacts, but their Antarctic impacts are poorly understood. Examining Antarctic snow accumulation anomalies of past observed extreme ENSO events, we show that accumulation changes differ between events and are insignificant during most events. Significant changes occur during 2015/16 and in Enderby Land during all extreme El Niños. Historical data limit conclusions, but future greater extremes could cause Antarctic accumulation changes.