Impact of blowing snow on the surface radiation balance near the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Tax, Samuel M.; van Tiggelen, Maurice; Feenstra, Thirza N.; Smeets, Paul C. J. P.; Gadde, Srinidhi N.; van Dalum, Christiaan T.; van de Berg, Willem Jan; van den Broeke, Michiel R.

doi:10.5194/tc-20-5609-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5609-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-5609-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 10

Research article

|

01 Oct 2026

Research article |

| 01 Oct 2026

Impact of blowing snow on the surface radiation balance near the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Samuel M. Tax, Maurice van Tiggelen, Thirza N. Feenstra, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Srinidhi N. Gadde, Christiaan T. van Dalum, Willem Jan van de Berg, and Michiel R. van den Broeke

Data sets

Blowing snow measurements on the Greenland Ice Sheet at S10 in the fall of 2012 S. M. Tax et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19254672

Automatic weather station data collected from 2003 to 2021 at the Greenland ice sheet along the K-transect, West Greenland P. C. J. P. Smeets et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.947483

PROMICE and GC-Net automated weather station data in Greenland (draft version) P. How et al. https://doi.org/10.22008/FK2/IW73UU

Model code and software

Offline blowing snow model PIEKTUK-D adapted for the radiation scheme ecRad-1.4.1 in RACMO2.4p S. M. Tax et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19252674

Short summary

Strong winds can lift snow into the air, which influences the energy exchange between the surface and the atmosphere. We studied this phenomenon over the Greenland Ice Sheet using observations and a climate model. We found that blowing snow traps heat near the surface like a blanket and reflects incoming sunlight like a mirror. Simulating these processes increases the net energy at the surface and improves model accuracy. Therefore, we recommend including these effects in climate models.