scholarly journals A study of the surface mass balance in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, using automatic weather stationS

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (171) ◽  
pp. 565-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiel R. Van Den Broeke ◽  
Carleen H. Reijmer ◽  
Roderik S.W. Van De Wal
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Katabatic Wind ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Solid Precipitation ◽  
High Plateau ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Weather Stations

AbstractWe use data from four automatic weather stations (AWSs) in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, to study the surface mass balance and its components. Distinct differences were found between the moisture climates of the high plateau, the katabatic wind zone and the coastal ice shelves: significant undersaturation occurs year-round in the katabatic wind zone, while on the high plateau and on the coastal ice shelf the air is usually close to saturation. In summer, absorption of shortwave radiation at the snow surface enhances surface sublimation at all sites, removing 3-9% of the annual solid precipitation. Significant summer melting is an equally important ablation term near the coast, but vanishes inland. Vertically integrated column drifting-snow sublimation was estimated using two different methods. This process appears to be similar to or greater in magnitude than surface sublimation. Because intervals between significant precipitation events may last as long as several months, sublimation and melt cause extended periods of surface ablation in summer. In summer, all ablation processes together remove 15-56% of the solid precipitation, or 6-27% on an annual basis.

scholarly journals Surface and snowdrift sublimation at Princess Elisabeth station, East Antarctica

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Thiery ◽  
I. V. Gorodetskaya ◽  
R. Bintanja ◽  
N. P. M. Van Lipzig ◽  
M. R. Van den Broeke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Meteorological Observations ◽  
Strong Winds

Abstract. In the near-coastal regions of Antarctica, a significant fraction of the snow precipitating onto the surface is removed again through sublimation – either directly from the surface or from drifting snow particles. Meteorological observations from an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) near the Belgian research station Princess Elisabeth in Dronning Maud Land, East-Antarctica, are used to study surface and snowdrift sublimation and to assess their impacts on both the surface mass balance and the surface energy balance during 2009 and 2010. Comparison to three other AWSs in Dronning Maud Land with 11 to 13 yr of observations shows that sublimation has a significant influence on the surface mass balance at katabatic locations by removing 10–23% of their total precipitation, but at the same time reveals anomalously low surface and snowdrift sublimation rates at Princess Elisabeth (17 mm w.e. yr−1 compared to 42 mm w.e. yr−1 at Svea Cross and 52 mm w.e. yr−1 at Wasa/Aboa). This anomaly is attributed to local topography, which shields the station from strong katabatic influence, and, therefore, on the one hand allows for a strong surface inversion to persist throughout most of the year and on the other hand causes a lower probability of occurrence of intermediately strong winds. This wind speed class turns out to contribute most to the total snowdrift sublimation mass flux, given its ability to lift a high number of particles while still allowing for considerable undersaturation.

scholarly journals Surface and snowdrift sublimation at Princess Elisabeth station, East Antarctica

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1491-1530
Author(s):  
W. Thiery ◽  
I. V. Gorodetskaya ◽  
R. Bintanja ◽  
N. P. M. van Lipzig ◽  
M. R. van den Broeke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Meteorological Observations ◽  
Strong Winds

Abstract. In the near-coastal regions of Antarctica, a significant fraction of the snow precipitating onto the surface is removed again through sublimation – either directly from the surface or from drifting snow particles. Meteorological observations from an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) near the Belgian research station Princess Elisabeth in Dronning Maud Land, East-Antarctica, are used to study surface and snowdrift sublimation and to assess their impacts on both the surface mass balance and the surface energy balance. Comparison to three other AWSs in Dronning Maud Land shows that sublimation has a significant influence on the surface mass balance at katabatic locations by removing 10–23 % of their total precipitation, but at the same time reveals anomalously low surface and snowdrift sublimation rates at Princess Elisabeth (18 mm w.e. yr–1 compared to 42 mm w.e. yr–1 at Svea Cross and 52 mm w.e. yr–1 at Wasa/Aboa). This anomaly is attributed to local topography, which shields the station from strong katabatic influence, and therefore on the one hand allows for a strong surface inversion to persist throughout most of the year and on the other hand causes a lower probability of occurrence of intermediately strong winds. These wind speed classes turn out to contribute most to the total snowdrift sublimation mass flux, given their ability to lift a high number of particles while still allowing for considerable undersaturation.

scholarly journals How does the ice sheet surface mass balance relate to snowfall? Insights from a ground-based precipitation radar in East Antarctica

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Souverijns ◽  
Alexandra Gossart ◽  
Irina V. Gorodetskaya ◽  
Stef Lhermitte ◽  
Alexander Mangold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Good Proxy

Abstract. Local surface mass balance (SMB) measurements are crucial for understanding changes in the total mass of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, including its contribution to sea level rise. Despite continuous attempts to decipher mechanisms controlling the local SMB, a clear understanding of the separate components is still lacking, while snowfall measurements are almost absent. In this study, the different terms are quantified at the Princess Elisabeth (PE) station in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Furthermore, the relation between snowfall and accumulation at the surface is investigated. To achieve this, a unique collocated set of remote sensing instrumentation (Micro Rain Radar, ceilometer, Automatic Weather Station, among others) was established operating for an unprecedented time period of 37 months. Snowfall originates mainly from moist and warm air advected from lower latitudes associated with cyclone activity. However, snowfall events are much more common than accumulation events. During 38 % of the snowfall cases observed, the freshly-fallen snow is ablated by the wind during the course of the event. Generally, snow storms of longer duration have a higher chance to attain for accumulation at the local scale, while shorter events usually attain for ablation (on average 17 and 12 hours respectively). As such, SMB records cannot be considered a good proxy for snowfall at the local scale. Accumulation and ablation also occur during non-snowfall conditions. A large part of the accumulation at the station takes place when preceding snowfall events were occurring in upstream coastal areas. This fresh snow is easily picked up and transported in shallow drifting snow layers to more inland locations, even when wind speed is relatively low (

scholarly journals Surface mass balance in east Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, observed by Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 242-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhei Takahashi ◽  
Yutaka Ageta ◽  
Yoshtyuki Fujii ◽  
Okitsugu Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Ice Field ◽  
Surrounding Areas

The surface mass balance in east Dronning Maud Land has been observed mainlvbv means of the snow-stake method. The surface mass balance generallv decreased with distance from the coast; from more than 250 mm a−1 in the coastal region to less than 50 mm a−1 in the inland region higher than 3500 m in altitude. At Mizuho Station (2230 m a.s.l.). the sublimation was about 50 mm a−1. precipitation was between 140 and 260 mm a−1, and the loss from the surface by theredistribution was estimated to be about 100 mm a−1, which agrees with the surface mass balance estimated as 70 mm a−1 from the grain-growth rate. Around the mountainous area, the balance was small or in some cases negative, where a bare-ice field has developed. In the inland area, 3000– 3200 m a.s.l..the surface mass balance was less than 50 mm a−1, i.e. lower than in the surrounding areas. This low mass-balance area can be explained bv redistribution by the drifting snow. The whole mass input in five drainage basins with a total area of 620 × 103 km2 is 61.2Gton a−1 and the mean surface mass balance is 99 mm a−1.

scholarly journals Surface mass balance in east Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, observed by Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 242-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhei Takahashi ◽  
Yutaka Ageta ◽  
Yoshtyuki Fujii ◽  
Okitsugu Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Ice Field ◽  
Surrounding Areas

The surface mass balance in east Dronning Maud Land has been observed mainlvbv means of the snow-stake method. The surface mass balance generallv decreased with distance from the coast; from more than 250 mm a−1in the coastal region to less than 50 mm a−1in the inland region higher than 3500 m in altitude. At Mizuho Station (2230 m a.s.l.). the sublimation was about 50 mm a−1. precipitation was between 140 and 260 mm a−1, and the loss from the surface by theredistribution was estimated to be about 100 mm a−1, which agrees with the surface mass balance estimated as 70 mm a−1from the grain-growth rate. Around the mountainous area, the balance was small or in some cases negative, where a bare-ice field has developed. In the inland area, 3000– 3200 m a.s.l..the surface mass balance was less than 50 mm a−1, i.e. lower than in the surrounding areas. This low mass-balance area can be explained bv redistribution by the drifting snow. The whole mass input in five drainage basins with a total area of 620 × 103km2is 61.2Gton a−1and the mean surface mass balance is 99 mm a−1.

scholarly journals Temporal and spatial variability of the surface mass balance in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, as derived from automatic weather stations

2003 ◽  
Vol 49 (167) ◽  
pp. 512-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carleen H. Reijmer ◽  
Michiel R. van den Broeke
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Variability ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Good Agreement

AbstractMeasurements of changes in surface height carried out with sonic altimeters mounted on automatic weather stations in Dronning Maud Land (DML) and on Berkner Island, Antarctica, are used to derive the surface mass balance. The surface mass balance is positive at all sites, i.e. accumulation outweighs ablation. The spatial and temporal variability in accumulation is high. Accumulation occurs in numerous small events and a few large events per year. The larger events contribute more to the annual accumulation than the small events; ∼50% of all accumulation is contributed by 10–25% of all events. The accumulation generally decreases with increasing distance from the coast and elevation. Annual averaged values range from ∼375 ± 59 mm w.e. a−1 near the coast to ∼33 ± 25 mm w.e. a−1 on theAntarctic plateau and are in good agreement with long-term averaged annual accumulation rates obtained from snow pits and firn cores. The records show seasonal dependency of the amount of accumulation, with a maximum in winter in the coastal and escarpment region of DML and in summer on Berkner Island and on the plateau. The seasonal cycles are significant on Berkner Island, and in the coastal area and part of the escarpment region.

scholarly journals Characteristics of the Antarctic surface mass balance, 1958–2002, using a regional atmospheric climate model

2005 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.J. Van De Berg ◽  
M.R. Van Den Broeke ◽  
C.H. Reijmer ◽  
E. Van Meijgaard
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Solid Precipitation ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Characteristics ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Regional Atmospheric Climate Model

AbstractTemporal and spatial characteristics of the Antarctic specific surface mass balance (SSMB) are presented, including its components solid precipitation, sublimation/deposition and melt. For this purpose, we use the output of a regional atmospheric climate model (RACMO2/ANT, horizontal resolution of ~55 km) for the period 1958–2002. RACMO2/ANT uses European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40 year re-analysis (ERA-40) fields as forcing at the lateral boundaries. RACMO2/ANT underestimates SSMB in the high interior of East and West Antarctica and overestimates SSMB on the steep coastal slopes. Otherwise, the modeled spatial pattern of SSMB is in good qualitative agreement with recent compilations of in situ observations. Large-scale patterns, like the precipitation shadow effect of the Antarctic Peninsula, are well reproduced, and mesoscale SSMB patterns, such as the strong precipitation gradients on Law Dome, are well represented in the model. The integrated SSMB over the grounded ice sheet is 153mmw.e. a–1 for the period 1958–2002, which agrees within 5% with the latest measurement compilations. Sublimation and melt remove 7% and <1% respectively of the solid precipitation. We found significant seasonality of solid precipitation, with a maximum in autumn and a minimum in summer. No meaningful trend was identified for the SSMB, because the time series of solid precipitation and SSMB are affected by an inhomogeneity in 1980 within the ERA-40 fields that drive RACMO2/ANT. Sublimation, melt and liquid precipitation increase in time, which is related to a modeled increase in 2m temperature.

scholarly journals How does the ice sheet surface mass balance relate to snowfall? Insights from a ground-based precipitation radar in East Antarctica

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1987-2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Souverijns ◽  
Alexandra Gossart ◽  
Irina V. Gorodetskaya ◽  
Stef Lhermitte ◽  
Alexander Mangold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. Local surface mass balance (SMB) measurements are crucial for understanding changes in the total mass of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, including its contribution to sea level rise. Despite continuous attempts to decipher mechanisms controlling the local and regional SMB, a clear understanding of the separate components is still lacking, while snowfall measurements are almost absent. In this study, the different terms of the SMB are quantified at the Princess Elisabeth (PE) station in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Furthermore, the relationship between snowfall and accumulation at the surface is investigated. To achieve this, a unique collocated set of ground-based and in situ remote sensing instrumentation (Micro Rain Radar, ceilometer, automatic weather station, among others) was set up and operated for a time period of 37 months. Snowfall originates mainly from moist and warm air advected from lower latitudes associated with cyclone activity. However, snowfall events are not always associated with accumulation. During 38 % of the observed snowfall cases, the freshly fallen snow is ablated by the wind during the course of the event. Generally, snow storms of longer duration and larger spatial extent have a higher chance of resulting in accumulation on a local scale, while shorter events usually result in ablation (on average 17 and 12 h respectively). A large part of the accumulation at the station takes place when preceding snowfall events were occurring in synoptic upstream areas. This fresh snow is easily picked up and transported in shallow drifting snow layers over tens of kilometres, even when wind speeds are relatively low (< 7 ms−1). Ablation events are mainly related to katabatic winds originating from the Antarctic plateau and the mountain ranges in the south. These dry winds are able to remove snow and lead to a decrease in the local SMB. This work highlights that the local SMB is strongly influenced by synoptic upstream conditions.

scholarly journals Estimation of the Antarctic surface mass balance using MAR (1979–2015) and identification of dominant processes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Agosta ◽  
Charles Amory ◽  
Christoph Kittel ◽  
Anais Orsi ◽  
Vincent Favier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The Antarctic ice sheet mass balance is a major component of the sea level budget and results from the difference of two fluxes of a similar magnitude: ice flow discharging in the ocean and net snow accumulation on the ice sheet surface, i.e. the surface mass balance (SMB). Separately modelling ice dynamics and surface mass balance is the only way to project future trends. In addition, mass balance studies frequently use regional climate models (RCMs) outputs as an alternative to observed fields because SMB observations are particularly scarce on the ice sheet. Here we evaluate new simulations of the polar RCM MAR forced by three reanalyses, ERA-Interim, JRA-55 and MERRA2, for the period 1979–2015, and we compare our results to the last outputs of the RCM RACMO2 forced by ERA-Interim. We show that MAR and RACMO2 perform similarly well in simulating coast to plateau SMB gradients, and we find no significant differences in their simulated SMB when integrated over the ice sheet or its major basins. More importantly, we outline and quantify missing processes in both RCMs. Along stake transects, we show that both models accumulate too much snow on crests, and not enough snow in valleys, as a result of erosion-deposition processes not included in MAR, where the drifting snow module has been switched off, and probably underestimated in RACMO2 by a factor of three. As a consequence, the amount of drifting snow sublimating in the atmospheric boundary layer remains a potentially large mass sink needed to be better constrained. Moreover, MAR generally simulates larger SMB and snowfall amounts than RACMO2 inland, whereas snowfall rates are significantly lower in MAR than in RACMO2 at the ice sheet margins. This divergent behaviour at the margins results from differences in model parameterisations, as MAR explicitly advects precipitating particles through the atmospheric layers and sublimates snowflakes in the undersaturated katabatic layer, whereas in RACMO2 precipitation is added to the surface without advection through the atmosphere. Consequently, we corroborate a recent study concluding that sublimation of precipitation in the low-level atmospheric layers is a significant mass sink for the Antarctic SMB, as it may represent ∼ 240 ± 25 Gt yr-1 of difference in snowfall between RACMO2 and MAR for the period 1979–2015, which is 10 % of the simulated snowfall loaded on the ice sheet and more than twice the surface snow sublimation as currently simulated by MAR.

scholarly journals Climate variables along a traverse line in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (150) ◽  
pp. 295-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiel R. van den Broeke ◽  
Jan-Gunnar Winther ◽  
Elisabeth Isaksson ◽  
Jean Francis Pinglot ◽  
Lars Karlöf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Katabatic Wind ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Dronning Maud Land

AbstractTemperature, density and accumulation data were obtained from shallow firn cores, drilled during an overland traverse through a previously unknown part of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The traverse area is characterised by high mountains that obstruct the ice flow, resulting in a sudden transition from the polar plateau to the coastal region. The spatial variations of potential temperature, near-surface firn density and accumulation suggest that katabatic winds are active in this region. Proxy wind data derived from firn-density profiles confirm that annual mean wind speed is strongly related to the magnitude of the surface slope. The high elevation of the ice sheet south of the mountains makes for a dry, cold climate, in which mass loss owing to sublimation is small and erosion of snow by the wind has a potentially large impact on the surface mass balance. A simple katabatic-wind model is used to explain the variations of accumulation along the traverse line in terms of divergence/convergence of the local transport of drifting snow. The resulting wind- and snowdrift patterns are closely connected to the topography of the ice sheet: ridges are especially sensitive to erosion, while ice streams and other depressions act as collectors of drifting snow.

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