Applying a Mesoscale Atmospheric Model to Svalbard Glaciers

Claremar, Björn; Obleitner, Friedrich; Reijmer, C. H.; Pohjola, Veijo; Waxegård, Anna; Karner, F.; Rutgersson, Anna

doi:10.1155/2012/321649

Cited by 45 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…The model is forced with 3-hourly meteorological time series of temperature, precipitation, cloud cover and relative humidity from the Ny-Ålesund weather station (eKlima.no; Norwegian Meteorological Institute). Elevation lapse rates for temperature are calculated using output from the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model (Claremar et al, 2012), while the precipitation lapse rate is taken from Van Pelt and Kohler (2015); zero lapse rates are assumed for cloud cover and relative humidity. Surface runoff is modelled on a 100 m × 100 m grid.…”

Section: Surface Runoff and Subglacial Discharge Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous modelling work ( Van der Veen, 2002;Benn et al, 2007;Amundson and Truffer, 2010;Nick et al, 2010;Cook et al, 2012;Krug et al, 2014Krug et al, , 2015, the dynamics of ice masses have been simulated using continuum models, in which the continuum space is discretised and includes processes of mass and energy balance. In addition to the lack of process understanding, continuum models cannot explicitly model fracture but must use simple parameterisations such as damage variables or phenomenological calving criteria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

et al. 2018

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Abstract. In this paper, we study the effects of basal friction, sub-aqueous undercutting and glacier geometry on the calving process by combining six different models in an offlinecoupled workflow: a continuum-mechanical ice flow model (Elmer/Ice), a climatic mass balance model, a simple subglacial hydrology model, a plume model, an undercutting model and a discrete particle model to investigate fracture dynamics (Helsinki Discrete Element Model, HiDEM). We demonstrate the feasibility of reproducing the observed calving retreat at the front of Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard, during a melt season by using the output from the first five models as input to HiDEM. Basal sliding and glacier motion are addressed using Elmer/Ice, while calving is modelled by HiDEM. A hydrology model calculates subglacial drainage paths and indicates two main outlets with different discharges. Depending on the discharge, the plume model computes frontal melt rates, which are iteratively projected to the actual front of the glacier at subglacial discharge locations. This produces undercutting of different sizes, as melt is concentrated close to the surface for high discharge and is more diffuse for low discharge. By testing different configurations, we show that undercutting plays a key role in glacier retreat and is necessary to reproduce observed retreat in the vicinity of the discharge locations during the melting season. Calving rates are also influenced by basal friction, through its effects on near-terminus strain rates and ice velocity.

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Section: Surface Runoff and Subglacial Discharge Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

et al. 2018

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“…Furthermore, the optimal choice of diffusion scheme, its strength, and its influence on simulated precipitation and therefore glacier CMB are beyond the scope of this paper and have not been investigated fully for our area of interest and model configuration. The simulation of near-surface meteorological fields by WRF over glacier surfaces has been found to be relatively insensitive to the choice of physical parameterizations (Claremar et al, 2012); however, the extent to which modelled CMB is dependent on the model physics, the choice of numerics, and the spatial resolution of the finest domain represents an important uncertainty that will be explored in a future study. The mean proportion of debris covered-area on Karakoram glaciers is estimated to be 18-22 % (Scherler et al, 2011;Hewitt, 2011), which is higher than the pan-Himalayan average of ∼ 10 % (Bolch et al, 2012).…”

Section: Remarks and Perspectives For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution interactive modelling of the mountain glacier–atmosphere interface: an application over the Karakoram

et al. 2013

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Abstract. The traditional approach to simulations of alpine glacier mass balance (MB) has been one-way, or offline, thus precluding feedbacks from changing glacier surface conditions on the atmospheric forcing. In addition, alpine glaciers have been only simply, if at all, represented in atmospheric models to date. Here, we extend a recently presented, novel technique for simulating glacier-atmosphere interactions without the need for statistical downscaling, through the use of a coupled high-resolution mesoscale atmospheric and physically-based climatic mass balance (CMB) modelling system that includes glacier CMB feedbacks to the atmosphere. We compare the model results over the Karakoram region of the northwestern Himalaya with remote sensing data for the ablation season of 2004 as well as with in situ glaciological and meteorological measurements from the Baltoro glacier. We find that interactive coupling has a localized but appreciable impact on the near-surface meteorological forcing data and that incorporation of CMB processes improves the simulation of variables such as land surface temperature and snow albedo. Furthermore, including feedbacks from the glacier model has a non-negligible effect on simulated CMB, reducing modelled ablation, on average, by 0.1 m w.e. (−6.0 %) to a total of −1.5 m w.e. between 25 June-31 August 2004. The interactively coupled model shows promise as a new, multi-scale tool for explicitly resolving atmospheric-CMB processes of mountain glaciers at the basin scale.

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“…Dynamical downscaling using high-resolution regional atmospheric climate models (RCMs) has proven to be a good method to represent climate at 5-10-km resolution. Moreover, RCMs can be specifically adapted to simulate the climate and surface mass balance of glaciated regions, such as the Antarctic ice sheet (Lenaerts et al 2012c;Van Wessem et al 2014b), but also of smaller partly glaciated regions, such as Greenland (Fettweis 2007;Ettema et al 2010), Patagonia (Lenaerts et al 2014), and Svalbard (Claremar et al 2012;Lang et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature and Wind Climate of the Antarctic Peninsula as Simulated by a High-Resolution Regional Atmospheric Climate Model

et al. 2015

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTThe latest polar version of the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO2.3) has been applied to the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). In this study, the authors present results of a climate run at 5.5 km for the period 1979-2013, in which RACMO2.3 is forced by ERA-Interim atmospheric and ocean surface fields, using an updated AP surface topography. The model results are evaluated with near-surface temperature and wind measurements from 12 manned and automatic weather stations and vertical profiles from balloon soundings made at three stations. The seasonal cycle of near-surface temperature and wind is simulated well, with most biases still related to the limited model resolution. High-resolution climate maps of temperature and wind showing that the AP climate exhibits large spatial variability are discussed. Over the steep and high mountains of the northern AP, large west-to-east climate gradients exist, while over the gentle southern AP mountains the near-surface climate is dominated by katabatic winds. Over the flat ice shelves, where katabatic wind forcing is weak, interannual variability in temperature is largest. Finally, decadal trends of temperature and wind are presented, and it is shown that recently there has been distinct warming over the northwestern AP and cooling over the rest of the AP, related to changes in sea ice cover.

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Applying a Mesoscale Atmospheric Model to Svalbard Glaciers

Cited by 45 publications

References 75 publications

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

Effects of undercutting and sliding on calving: a global approach applied to Kronebreen, Svalbard

High-resolution interactive modelling of the mountain glacier–atmosphere interface: an application over the Karakoram

Temperature and Wind Climate of the Antarctic Peninsula as Simulated by a High-Resolution Regional Atmospheric Climate Model

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