Influence of weather conditions and spatial variability on glacier surface melt in Chilean Patagonia

Konya, Keiko; Matsumoto, Takane

doi:10.1007/s00704-009-0248-0

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The ABL structure in mountain valleys is probably more complex than on Kilimanjaro, since its depth can vary significantly due to small‐scale secondary flow patterns that are hard to simulate [ Weigel et al , 2006]. In addition, large valley glaciers exert a notable impact on the local SBL especially during dry weather [ Konya and Matsumoto , 2010], compared to small glaciers that are exposed to the free tropospheric flow. On the other hand, an isolated high mountain like Kilimanjaro entails a larger elevation difference between adjacent grid cells than a gradually up‐building terrain of much wider horizontal dimension, thus representing adverse conditions for numerical stability in a LAM [ Pielke , 2002].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new approach to resolving climate-cryosphere relations: Downscaling climate dynamics to glacier-scale mass and energy balance without statistical scale linking

Mölg¹,

Kaser²

2011

J. Geophys. Res.

117

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[1] We present a novel combination of methods to quantify the local mass response of mountain glaciers to large-scale circulation. Previously, such multiscale approaches bypassed the mesoscale processes of the mountain-induced atmospheric flow, by statistical transfer functions or subgrid parameterizations, and included simplified glacier mass balance (MB) models. Here we show, on the basis of Kilimanjaro (East Africa) as a test case, that a limited area atmospheric model (LAM) and a process-resolving MB model can be linked without statistical corrections at their interface. This is evident from robust energy and MB patterns at the glacier surface, regardless of whether the MB model is forced by (1) in situ meteorological measurements or (2) uncorrected output from the high-resolution LAM grid over the glacier area. The latter is achieved by multiple grid nesting in the land-atmosphere-ocean domain of the LAM. Since this setup resolves the mesoscale process space, we also show the potential to increase knowledge of how dynamical, thermodynamic, and microphysical phenomena of the mountain-induced flow affect glacier MB. All these results are encouraging for future research because they demonstrate that a dynamical system, which operates on very different space-time scales, can be quantified in a fully physical way, if dynamic meteorology and glaciology are exploited in a complementary sense. This will enhance the process understanding of forward problems (glacier response to climate forcing) and backward problems (climate signal extraction from past extents of mountain glaciers).Citation: Mölg, T., and G. Kaser (2011), A new approach to resolving climate-cryosphere relations: Downscaling climate dynamics to glacier-scale mass and energy balance without statistical scale linking,

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new approach to resolving climate-cryosphere relations: Downscaling climate dynamics to glacier-scale mass and energy balance without statistical scale linking

Mölg¹,

Kaser²

2011

J. Geophys. Res.

117

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“…Their total contribution typically ranges from 25 to 50%, depending on the surface albedo, synoptic conditions, and climatic region (e.g. Bintanja 1995;van den Broeke 1997b;van den Broeke et al 2008;Oerlemans et al 1999;van der Avoird and Duynkerke 1999;Oerlemans and Klok 2002;Klok et al 2005;Giesen et al , 2009Konya and Matsumoto 2010). Besides, moisture exchange is a component inherent in the mass budget.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Critical Evaluation of Scalar Roughness Length Parametrizations Over a Melting Valley Glacier

Guo

Yang

Zhao

et al. 2011

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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We present a field investigation over a melting valley glacier on the Tibetan Plateau. In the ablation zone, aerodynamic roughness lengths (z 0M ) vary on the order of 10 −4 -10 −2 m, whose evolution corresponds to three melt phases with distinct surface cover and moisture exchange: snow (sublimation/evaporation), bare ice (deposition/condensation), and ice hummocks (sublimation/evaporation). Bowen-ratio similarity is validated in the stably stratified katabatic winds, which suggests a useful means for data quality check. A roughness sublayer is regarded as irrelevant to the present ablation season, because selected characteristics of scalar turbulence over smooth snow are quite similar to those over hummocky ice. We evaluate three parametrizations of the scalar roughness lengths (z 0T for temperature and z 0q for humidity), viz. key factors for the accurate estimation of sensible heat and latent heat fluxes using the bulk aerodynamic method. The first approach is based on surface-renewal models and has been widely applied in glaciated areas; the second has never received application over an ice/snow surface, despite its validity in (semi-)arid regions; the third, a derivative of the first, is proposed for use specifically over rough ice defined as z 0M > 10 −3 m or so. This empirical z 0M threshold value is deemed of general relevance to glaciated areas (e.g. ice sheet/cap and valley/outlet glaciers), above which the first approach gives notably underestimated z 0T,q . The first and the third approaches tend to underestimate and overestimate turbulent heat/moisture exchange, respectively, frequently leading to relative errors higher than 30%. Comparatively, the second approach produces fairly low errors in energy flux estimates both in individual melt phases and over the whole ablation season; it thus emerges as a practically useful choice to parametrize z 0T,q in glaciated areas. Moreover, we find all 123 308 X. Guo et al. three candidate parametrizations unable to predict diurnal variations in the excess resistances to humidity transfer, thus encouraging more efforts for improvement.

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“…However, the presence of meltwater leads to the attenuation of incoming radiation in the snowpack (Kapil et al, 2010). Because of the high absorptivity of the snow on the Kahiltna Glacier and the previous success in using surface energy balance to calculate melting (Anslow et al, 2008;Konya and Matsumoto, 2010;Schneider et al, 2007), the vast majority of the meltwater at this site is generated at the surface.…”

Section: Physical Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐frequency observations of melt effects on snowpack stratigraphy, Kahiltna Glacier, Central Alaska Range

Winski

Kreutz

Osterberg

et al. 2012

Hydrological Processes

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With an increased volume of melt on many of the world's glaciers, study of how meltwater affects the properties of glacial snowpack becomes essential to our understanding of how glaciers will respond to climate change. We address this problem by studying how snow properties changed on sub‐daily timescales on the Kahiltna Glacier, Alaska, between May 26 and June 10, 2010. During this period, we dug 1.8‐m‐deep snow pits twice daily to record the stratigraphy of melt layers, snow hardness, grain size, and density and sampled for hydrogen isotopic composition (δD) on four occasions. From these data, we show that 65% of the melted surface snow infiltrates and refreezes in the snowpack. This leads to a densification of the snow, a 729% increase in volume of melt layers, and a homogenization of isotopic and physical snow properties. From visual and stratigraphic observations, we show that meltwater flow within the snowpack is conducted primarily along lenses and pipes, where melt layers later form, but that more homogeneous capillary‐based flow is also important. Finally, we show using isotope ratios that post‐depositional alteration is exacerbated with increased melt extent, using the δD profile below a volcanic ash layer as a case study. In the future, similar studies would benefit from this high‐frequency monitoring approach to assessing snowpack evolution, as it allows for a greater understanding of short duration processes. New directions for study would include longer‐term monitoring efforts over a wider spatial snow pit network. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Influence of weather conditions and spatial variability on glacier surface melt in Chilean Patagonia

Cited by 14 publications

References 14 publications

A new approach to resolving climate-cryosphere relations: Downscaling climate dynamics to glacier-scale mass and energy balance without statistical scale linking

A new approach to resolving climate-cryosphere relations: Downscaling climate dynamics to glacier-scale mass and energy balance without statistical scale linking

Critical Evaluation of Scalar Roughness Length Parametrizations Over a Melting Valley Glacier

High‐frequency observations of melt effects on snowpack stratigraphy, Kahiltna Glacier, Central Alaska Range

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