scholarly journals Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu An ◽  
Eric Rignot ◽  
Romain Millan ◽  
Kirsty Tinto ◽  
Josh Willis
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Gravity Data ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Airborne Gravity ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Sea Bed

Marine-terminating glaciers dominate the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and its contribution to sea-level rise. Widespread glacier acceleration has been linked to the warming of ocean waters around the periphery of Greenland but a lack of information on the bathymetry of the continental shelf and glacial fjords has limited our ability to understand how subsurface, warm, salty ocean waters of Atlantic origin (AW) reach the glaciers and melt them from below. Here, we employ high-resolution, airborne gravity data (AIRGrav) in combination with multibeam echo sounding (MBES) data, to infer the bathymetry of the coastal areas of Northwest Greenland for NASA’s Ocean Melting Greenland (OMG) mission. High-resolution, AIRGrav data acquired on a 2 km spacing, 150 m ground clearance, with 1.5 mGal crossover error, is inverted in three dimensions to map the bathymetry. To constrain the inversion away from MBES data, we compare two methods: one based on the Direct Current (DC) shift of the gravity field (absolute minus observed gravity) and another based on the density of the bedrock. We evaluate and compare the two methods in areas with complete MBES coverage. We find the lowest standard error in bed elevation (±60 m) using the DC shift method. When applied to the entire coast of Northwest Greenland, the three-dimensional inversion reveals a complex network of connected sea bed channels, not known previously, that provide natural and varied pathways for AW to reach the glaciers across the continental shelf. The study demonstrates that the gravity approach offers an efficient and practical alternative to extensive ship mapping in ice-filled waters to obtain information critical to understanding and modeling ice-ocean interaction along ice sheet margins.

scholarly journals A Three-Dimensional Polar Ice-Sheet Model

1977 ◽  
Vol 18 (80) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Jenssen
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Phase Changes ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Three Dimensional Model ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Mass Depletion

AbstractA three-dimensional model of the temperature and velocity distribution within any arbitrary-shaped ice mass is described. There is a mutual interaction in the model between the flow of the ice and its thermodynamics, since the flow law used in the model is temperature-dependent.Ice growth in three dimensions is governed by mass accumulation through precipitation, by mass depletion through loss of ice over the ocean, and by continuity requirements. Phase changes at the base of the ice are accounted for. The model has been applied in art exploratory manner to the Greenland ice sheet. Changes in the ice shape and temperature are presented and discussed. The basic shortcoming of the model as here presented appears primarily due to the coarse finite-difference mesh used, and to an unsophisticated approach to modelling the boundary ice.

scholarly journals A Three-Dimensional Polar Ice-Sheet Model

1977 ◽  
Vol 18 (80) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Jenssen
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Phase Changes ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Three Dimensional Model ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Mass Depletion

Abstract A three-dimensional model of the temperature and velocity distribution within any arbitrary-shaped ice mass is described. There is a mutual interaction in the model between the flow of the ice and its thermodynamics, since the flow law used in the model is temperature-dependent. Ice growth in three dimensions is governed by mass accumulation through precipitation, by mass depletion through loss of ice over the ocean, and by continuity requirements. Phase changes at the base of the ice are accounted for. The model has been applied in art exploratory manner to the Greenland ice sheet. Changes in the ice shape and temperature are presented and discussed. The basic shortcoming of the model as here presented appears primarily due to the coarse finite-difference mesh used, and to an unsophisticated approach to modelling the boundary ice.

scholarly journals Ocean melting of the Zachariae Isstrøm and Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glaciers, northeast Greenland

2020 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. e2015483118
Author(s):  
Lu An ◽  
Eric Rignot ◽  
Michael Wood ◽  
Josh K. Willis ◽  
Jérémie Mouginot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Data ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Airborne Gravity ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Independent Observations ◽  
Global Sea Level ◽  
The Impact

Zachariae Isstrøm (ZI) and Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden (79N) are marine-terminating glaciers in northeast Greenland that hold an ice volume equivalent to a 1.1-m global sea level rise. ZI lost its floating ice shelf, sped up, retreated at 650 m/y, and experienced a 5-gigaton/y mass loss. Glacier 79N has been more stable despite its exposure to the same climate forcing. We analyze the impact of ocean thermal forcing on the glaciers. A three-dimensional inversion of airborne gravity data reveals an 800-m-deep, broad channel that allows subsurface, warm, Atlantic Intermediate Water (AIW) (+1.25○C) to reach the front of ZI via two sills at 350-m depth. Subsurface ocean temperature in that channel has warmed by 1.3±0.5○C since 1979. Using an ocean model, we calculate a rate of ice removal at the grounding line by the ocean that increased from 108 m/y to 185 m/y in 1979–2019. Observed ice thinning caused a retreat of its flotation line to increase from 105 m/y to 217 m/y, for a combined grounding line retreat of 13 km in 41 y that matches independent observations within 14%. In contrast, the limited access of AIW to 79N via a narrower passage yields lower grounded ice removal (53 m/y to 99 m/y) and thinning-induced retreat (27 m/y to 50 m/y) for a combined retreat of 4.4 km, also within 12% of observations. Ocean-induced removal of ice at the grounding line, modulated by bathymetric barriers, is therefore a main driver of ice sheet retreat, but it is not incorporated in most ice sheet models.

Confocal fluorescence microscopy with the tandem scanning light microscope

1989 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-624
Author(s):  
S.J. Wright ◽  
J.S. Walker ◽  
H. Schatten ◽  
C. Simerly ◽  
J.J. McCarthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Light Microscope ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Complex Structures ◽  
Charge Coupled Device ◽  
Confocal Fluorescence ◽  
Cooled Ccd ◽  
Cellular Components

Applications of the tandem scanning confocal microscope (TSM) to fluorescence microscopy and its ability to resolve fluorescent biological structures are described. The TSM, in conjunction with a cooled charge-coupled device (cooled CCD) and conventional epifluorescence light source and filter sets, provided high-resolution, confocal data, so that different fluorescent cellular components were distinguished in three dimensions within the same cell. One of the unique features of the TSM is the ability to image fluorochromes excited by ultraviolet light (e.g. Hoechst, DAPI) in addition to fluorescein and rhodamine. Since the illumination is dim, photobleaching is insignificant and prolonged viewing of living specimens is possible. Series of optical sections taken in the Z-axis with the TSM were reproduced as stereo images and three-dimensional reconstructions. These data show that the TSM is potentially a powerful tool in fluorescence microscopy for determining three-dimensional relationships of complex structures within cells labeled with multiple fluorochromes.

scholarly journals Solitary flexural–gravity waves in three dimensions

2018 ◽  
Vol 376 (2129) ◽  
pp. 20170345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Trichtchenko ◽  
Emilian I. Părău ◽  
Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck ◽  
Paul Milewski
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Boundary Integral ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Cosserat Theory ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Flexural Gravity Waves ◽  
Forced Waves ◽  
Ice Phenomena

The focus of this work is on three-dimensional nonlinear flexural–gravity waves, propagating at the interface between a fluid and an ice sheet. The ice sheet is modelled using the special Cosserat theory of hyperelastic shells satisfying Kirchhoff's hypothesis, presented in (Plotnikov & Toland. 2011 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 , 2942–2956 ( doi:10.1098/rsta.2011.0104 )). The fluid is assumed inviscid and incompressible, and the flow irrotational. A numerical method based on boundary integral equation techniques is used to compute solitary waves and forced waves to Euler's equations. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Modelling of sea-ice phenomena’.

scholarly journals A global high-resolution data set of ice sheet topography, cavity geometry and ocean bathymetry

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janin Schaffer ◽  
Ralph Timmermann ◽  
Jan Erik Arndt ◽  
Steen Savstrup Kristensen ◽  
Christoph Mayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Surface Topographies ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The ocean plays an important role in modulating the mass balance of the polar ice sheets by interacting with the ice shelves in Antarctica and with the marine-terminating outlet glaciers in Greenland. Given that the flux of warm water onto the continental shelf and into the sub-ice cavities is steered by complex bathymetry, a detailed topography data set is an essential ingredient for models that address ice-ocean interaction. We followed the spirit of the global RTopo-1 data set and compiled consistent maps of global ocean bathymetry, upper and lower ice surface topographies and global surface height on a spherical grid with now 30-arc seconds resolution. We used the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO_2014) as the backbone and added the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean version 3 (IBCAOv3) and the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) version 1. While RTopo-1 primarily aimed at a good and consistent representation of the Antarctic ice sheet, ice shelves and sub-ice cavities, RTopo-2 now also contains ice topographies of the Greenland ice sheet and outlet glaciers. In particular, we aimed at a good representation of the fjord and shelf bathymetry surrounding the Greenland continent. We corrected data from earlier gridded products in the areas of Petermann Glacier, Hagen Bræ and Sermilik Fjord assuming that sub-ice and fjord bathymetries roughly follow plausible Last Glacial Maximum ice flow patterns. For the continental shelf off northeast Greenland and the floating ice tongue of Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier at about 79° N, we incorporated a high-resolution digital bathymetry model considering original multibeam survey data for the region. Radar data for surface topographies of the floating ice tongues of Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier and Zachariæ Isstrøm have been obtained from the data centers of Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Operation Icebridge (NASA/NSF) and Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). For the Antarctic ice sheet/ice shelves, RTopo-2 largely relies on the Bedmap-2 product but applies corrections for the geometry of Getz, Abbot and Fimbul ice shelf cavities. The data set is available in full and in regional subsets in NetCDF format from the PANGAEA database at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.856844.

scholarly journals The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Tabone ◽  
Javier Blasco ◽  
Alexander Robinson ◽  
Jorge Alvarez-Solas ◽  
Marisa Montoya
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Primary Driver ◽  
Oceanic Forcing ◽  
Atmospheric Variations

Abstract. Observations suggest that during the last decades the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has experienced a gradually accelerating mass loss, in part due to the observed speed-up of several of Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers. Recent studies directly attribute this to warming North Atlantic temperatures, which have triggered melting of the outlet glaciers of the GrIS, grounding-line retreat and enhanced ice discharge into the ocean, contributing to an acceleration of sea-level rise. Reconstructions suggest that the influence of the ocean has been of primary importance in the past as well. This was the case not only in interglacial periods, when warmer climates led to a rapid retreat of the GrIS to land above sea level, but also in glacial periods, when the GrIS expanded as far as the continental shelf break and was thus more directly exposed to oceanic changes. However, the GrIS response to palaeo-oceanic variations has yet to be investigated in detail from a mechanistic modelling perspective. In this work, the evolution of the GrIS over the past two glacial cycles is studied using a three-dimensional hybrid ice-sheet–shelf model. We assess the effect of the variation of oceanic temperatures on the GrIS evolution on glacial–interglacial timescales through changes in submarine melting. The results show a very high sensitivity of the GrIS to changing oceanic conditions. Oceanic forcing is found to be a primary driver of GrIS expansion in glacial times and of retreat in interglacial periods. If switched off, palaeo-atmospheric variations alone are not able to yield a reliable glacial configuration of the GrIS. This work therefore suggests that considering the ocean as an active forcing should become standard practice in palaeo-ice-sheet modelling.

Physics, Resolution and Data Assimilation: Making sense of Greenland climate and ice sheet Surface Mass Balance with HARMONIE Climate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Mottram ◽  
Oskar Landgren ◽  
Rasmus Anker Pedersen ◽  
Kristian Pagh Nielsen ◽  
Ole Bøssing Christensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Numerical Weather Prediction ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Mass Budget ◽  
Numerical Weather

<p>The development of the HARMONIE model system has led to huge advances in numerical weather prediction, including over Greenland where a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model is used to forecast daily surface mass budget over the Greenland ice sheet as presented on polarportal.dk. The new high resolution Copernicus Arctic Reanalysis further developed the possibilities in HARMONIE with full 3DVar data assimilation and extended use of quality-controlled local observations. Here, we discuss the development and current status of the climate version of the HARMONIE Climate model (HCLIM). The HCLIM system has opened up the possibility for flexible use of the model at a range of spatial scales using different physical schemes including HARMONIE-AROME, ALADIN and ALARO for different spatial and temporal resolutions and assimilating observations, including satellite data on sea ice concentration from ESA CCI+, to improve hindcasts. However, the range of possibilities means that documenting the effects of different physics and parameterisation schemes is important before widespread application. </p><p>Here, we focus on HCLIM performance over the Greenland ice sheet, using observations to verify the different plausible set-ups and investigate biases in climate model outputs that affect the surface mass budget (SMB) of the Greenland ice sheet. </p><p>The recently funded Horizon 2020 project PolarRES will use the HCLIM model for very high resolution regional downscaling, together with other regional climate models in both Arctic and Antarctic regions, and our analysis thus helps to optimise the use of HCLIM in the polar regions for different modelling purposes.</p>

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