Reply to the Comment of Leclercq et al. on "100-year mass changes in the Swiss Alps linked to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation"

Abstract. In their comment, Leclercq et al. argue that Huss et al. (2010) overestimate the effect of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) on the 100-year mass balance variations in the Swiss Alps because time series of conventional balances instead of reference-surface balances were used. Applying the same model as in Huss et al. we calculate time series of reference-surface mass balance, and show that the difference between conventional and reference-surface mass balance is significantly smaller than stated in the comment. Both series exhibit very similar multidecadal variations. The opposing effects of retreat and surface lowering on mass balance partly cancel each other.