scholarly journals Impact of model resolution on simulated wind, drifting snow and surface mass balance in Terre Adélie, East Antarctica

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (211) ◽  
pp. 821-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan T.M. Lenaerts ◽  
Michiel R. Van Den Broeke ◽  
Claudio Scarchilli ◽  
Cécile Agosta
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Model Resolution ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Terre Adélie ◽  
Simulated Wind

AbstractThis paper presents the impact of model resolution on the simulated wind speed, drifting snow climate and surface mass balance (SMB) of Terre Adélie and its surroundings, East Antarctica. We compare regional climate model simulations at 27 and 5.5 km resolution for the year 2009. The wind speed maxima in Terre Adélie and the narrow glacial valleys of Victoria Land are better represented at 5.5 km resolution, because the topography is better resolved. Drifting snow sublimation is >100 mm a-1 in regions with high wind speeds. Our results indicate a strong feedback between topography, wind gradients and drifting snow erosion. As a result, SMB shows much more local spatial variability at 5.5 km resolution that is controlled by drifting snow erosion, whereas the large-scale SMB gradient is largely determined by precipitation. Drifting snow processes lead to ablation in the narrow glacial valleys of Victoria Land. The integrated SMB equals 86 Gt. Although wind climate, drifting snow processes and SMB variability are better represented at 5.5 km, the area-integrated SMB is not significantly different between the simulations at 27 and 5.5 km. A horizontal resolution of 27 km is sufficient to realistically simulate ice-sheet wide SMB.

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 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 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 Performance of MAR (v3.11) in simulating the drifting-snow climate and surface mass balance of Adélie Land, East Antarctica

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 3487-3510
Author(s):  
Charles Amory ◽  
Christoph Kittel ◽  
Louis Le Toumelin ◽  
Cécile Agosta ◽  
Alison Delhasse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow

Abstract. Drifting snow, or the wind-driven transport of snow particles originating from clouds and the surface below and above 2 m above ground and their concurrent sublimation, is a poorly documented process on the Antarctic ice sheet, which is inherently lacking in most climate models. Since drifting snow mostly results from erosion of surface particles, a comprehensive evaluation of this process in climate models requires a concurrent assessment of simulated drifting-snow transport and the surface mass balance (SMB). In this paper a new version of the drifting-snow scheme currently embedded in the regional climate model MAR (v3.11) is extensively described. Several important modifications relative to previous version have been implemented and include notably a parameterization for drifting-snow compaction of the uppermost snowpack layer, differentiated snow density at deposition between precipitation and drifting snow, and a rewrite of the threshold friction velocity above which snow erosion initiates. Model results at high resolution (10 km) over Adélie Land, East Antarctica, for the period 2004–2018 are presented and evaluated against available near-surface meteorological observations at half-hourly resolution and annual SMB estimates. The evaluation demonstrates that MAR resolves the local drifting-snow frequency and transport up to the scale of the drifting-snow event and captures the resulting observed climate and SMB variability, suggesting that this model version can be used for continent-wide applications.

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 Performance of MAR (v3.11) in simulating the drifting-snow climate and surface mass balance of Adelie Land, East Antarctica

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Amory ◽  
Christoph Kittel ◽  
Louis Le Toumelin ◽  
Cécile Agosta ◽  
Alison Delhasse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Drifting Snow

Abstract. Drifting snow, or the wind-driven transport of snow particles and their concurrent sublimation, is a poorly documented process on the Antarctic ice sheet, inherently lacking in most climate models. Since drifting snow mostly results from erosion of surface particles, a comprehensive evaluation of this process in climate models requires a concurrent assessment of simulated transport and the surface mass balance (SMB). In this paper a new version of the drifting-snow scheme currently embedded in the regional climate model MAR (v3.11) is extensively described. Several important modifications relative to previous version have been implemented and include notably a parameterisation for drifting-snow compaction, differentiated snow density at deposition between precipitation and drifting snow, and a rewriting of the threshold friction velocity for snow erosion. Model results at high resolution (10 km) over Adelie Land, East Antarctica, for the period 2004–2018 are presented and evaluated against available near-surface meteorological observations at half-hourly resolution and annual SMB estimates. MAR resolves the local drifting-snow frequency and transport up the scale of the drifting-snow event and captures the resulting observed climate and SMB variability. This suggests that this model version can be used for continent-wide applications, and that the approach of drifting-snow physics as proposed in MAR can serve as a basis for implementation in earth system models.

scholarly journals Climate dependent contrast in surface mass balance in East Antarctica over the past 216 ka

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (236) ◽  
pp. 1037-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. PARRENIN ◽  
S. FUJITA ◽  
A. ABE-OUCHI ◽  
K. KAWAMURA ◽  
V. MASSON-DELMOTTE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
The Past ◽  
Water Stable Isotope ◽  
Global Mean Sea Level

ABSTRACTDocumenting past changes in the East Antarctic surface mass balance is important to improve ice core chronologies and to constrain the ice-sheet contribution to global mean sea-level change. Here we reconstruct past changes in the ratio of surface mass balance (SMB ratio) between the EPICA Dome C (EDC) and Dome Fuji (DF) East Antarctica ice core sites, based on a precise volcanic synchronization of the two ice cores and on corrections for the vertical thinning of layers. During the past 216 000 a, this SMB ratio, denoted SMBEDC/SMBDF, varied between 0.7 and 1.1, being small during cold periods and large during warm periods. Our results therefore reveal larger amplitudes of changes in SMB at EDC compared with DF, consistent with previous results showing larger amplitudes of changes in water stable isotopes and estimated surface temperature at EDC compared with DF. Within the last glacial inception (Marine Isotope Stages, MIS-5c and MIS-5d), the SMB ratio deviates by up to 0.2 from what is expected based on differences in water stable isotope records. Moreover, the SMB ratio is constant throughout the late parts of the current and last interglacial periods, despite contrasting isotopic trends.

scholarly journals Temporal and spatial variability of surface mass balance at Dome Fuji, East Antarctica, by the stake method from 1995 to 2006

2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (184) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takao Kameda ◽  
Hideaki Motoyama ◽  
Shuji Fujita ◽  
Shuhei Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Variability ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Height Data

AbstractThe surface mass balance (SMB) at Dome Fuji, East Antarctica, was estimated using 36 bamboo stakes (grid of 6 × 6, placed at 20 m intervals) from 1995 to 2006. The heights of the stake tops from the snow surface were measured at 0.5 cm resolution twice monthly in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2003, and once a year for the rest of the study period. To account for snow settling, the average snow density at the stake base during the measurements was used for converting the stake-height data to SMB. The annual SMB from 1995 to 2006 at Dome Fuji was 27.3 ± 1.5 kg m−2 a−1. This result agrees well with the annual SMB from AD 1260 to 1993 (26.4 kg m−2 a−1) estimated from volcanic signals in the Dome Fuji ice core. Over the period 1995–2006, there were 37 (8.6% of the measurements) negative or zero annual SMB results. Variation in the multi-year averages of annual SMB decreased with the square root of the number of observation years, and 10 years of observations of a single stake allowed the estimation of annual SMB at ±10% accuracy. The frequency distributions of annual and monthly SMB were examined. The findings clarify the complex behavior of the annual and monthly SMB at Dome Fuji, which will be common phenomena in areas of low snow accumulation of the interior of the Antarctic ice sheet.

scholarly journals A Bare Ice Field in East Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, Caused By Horizontal Divergence of Drifting Snow

1988 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 156-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhei Takahashi ◽  
Renji Naruse ◽  
Masayoshi Nakawo ◽  
Shinji Mae
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Southern Region ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Transport Rate ◽  
Surface Slope ◽  
Drifting Snow ◽  
Snow Drift ◽  
Ice Field ◽  
Ice Sheet Topography

The horizontal divergence of drifting snow was estimated from the ice-sheet topography on Mizuho Plateau, East Antarctica. The calculation was made by using a relationship between the snow-drift transport rate and wind speed estimated from the surface slope. The divergence thus estimated for Mizuho Station (70°42′S, 44°20′E) was consistent with observations of surface net mass balance, precipitation and sublimation. Around the southern region of the Yamato Mountains, a large divergence was predicted and this is believed to be the principal cause of the bare ice field. Other factors in the formation and preservation of the bare-ice area are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document