Search

The Greenland ice sheet is an excellent observatory for global climate change. Meltwater from the 1.8 million km2 large ice sheet influences oceanic temperature and salinity, nutrient fluxes and global sea level (IPCC 2013). Surface reflectivity is a key driver of surface melt rates (Box et al. 2012). Mapping of different ice-sheet surface types provides a clear indicator of where changes in ice-sheet surface reflectivity are most prominent. Here, we present an updated version of a surface classification algorithm that utilises NASA’s Moderateresolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite to systematically monitor ice-sheet surface melt (Fausto et al. 2007). Our aim is to determine the areal extent of three surface types over the 2000–2014 period: glacier ice, melting snow (including percolation areas) and dry snow (Cuff ey & Paterson 2010). Monthly 1 km2 resolution surface-type grids can be downloaded via the CryoClim internet portal (www.cryoclim.net). In this report, we briefly describe the updated classification algorithm, validation of surface types and inter-annual variability in surface types., Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE)

Since the early 1980s, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) glaciology group has developed automatic weather stations (AWSs) and operated them on the Greenland ice sheet and on local glaciers to support glaciological research and monitoring projects (e.g. Olesen & Braithwaite 1989; Ahlstrøm et al. 2008). GEUS has also operated AWSs in connection with consultancy services in relation to mining and hydropower pre-feasibility studies (Colgan et al. 2015). Over the years, the design of the AWS has evolved, partly due to technological advances and partly due to lessons learned in the field. At the same time, we have kept the initial goal in focus: long-term, year-round accurate recording of ice ablation, snow depth and the physical parameters that determine the energy budget of glacierised surfaces. GEUS has an extensive record operating AWSs in the harsh Arctic environment of the diverse ablation areas of the Greenland ice sheet, glaciers and ice caps [...]. The GEUS AWS model in use now is a reliable tool that is adapted to the environmental and logistical conditions of polar regions. It has a proven record of more than 150 stationyears of deployment in Greenland since its introduction in 2007–2008, and a success rate of c. 90% defined as the fraction of months with more than 80% valid air-temperature measurements over the total deployment time of the 25 stations in the field. The rest of this paper focuses on the technical aspects of the GEUS AWS, and provides an overview of its design and capabilities., Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE)

We present 5 years (2009-2013) of automatic weather station measurements from the lower accumulation area (1840 m a.s.l. - above sea level) of the Greenland ice sheet in the Kangerlussuaq region. Here, the summers of 2010 and 2012 were both exceptionally warm, but only 2012 resulted in a strongly negative surface mass budget (SMB) and surface meltwater run-off. The observed run-off was due to a large ice fraction in the upper 10 m of firn that prevented meltwater from percolating to available pore volume below. Analysis reveals an anomalously low 2012 summer-averaged albedo of 0.71 (typically similar to 0.78), as meltwater was present at the ice sheet surface. Consequently, during the 2012 melt season, the ice sheet surface absorbed 28% (213 MJ m-2) more solar radiation than the average of all other years. A surface energy balance model is used to evaluate the seasonal and interannual variability of all surface energy fluxes. The model reproduces the observed melt rates as well as the SMB for each season. A sensitivity analysis reveals that 71% of the additional solar radiation in 2012 was used for melt, corresponding to 36% (0.64 m) of the 2012 surface lowering. The remaining 64% (1.14 m) of surface lowering resulted from high atmospheric temperatures, up to a + 2.6 degrees C daily average, indicating that 2012 would have been a negative SMB year at this site even without the melt-albedo feedback. Longer time series of SMB, regional temperature, and remotely sensed albedo (MODIS) show that 2012 was the first strongly negative SMB year, with the lowest albedo, at this elevation on record. The warm conditions of recent years have resulted in enhanced melt and reduction of the refreezing capacity in the lower accumulation area. If high temperatures continue, the current lower accumulation area will turn into a region with superimposed ice in coming years., Stability and Variations of Arctic Land Ice (SVALI), Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), Greenland Analogue Project (GAP)

In 2007 the Programme for Monitoring the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) was initiated to observe and gain insight into the mass budget of Greenland ice masses. By means of in situ observations and remote sensing, PROMICE assesses how much mass is gained as snow accumulation on the surface versus how much is lost by iceberg calving and surface ablation (Ahlstrøm et al. 2008). A key element of PROMICE is a network of automatic weather stations (AWSs) designed to quantify components of the surface mass balance, including the energy exchanges contributing to surface ablation (Van As et al. 2013). The use of these AWS observations is not limited to studies of ice-sheet mass balance. PROMICE contributes to CryoNet (www.globalcryospherewatch.org/cryonet), the core network of surface measurement sites of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Cryosphere Watch. By real-time delivery through WMO, PROMICE observations contribute to improve both operational forecasting and climate analysis in the data-sparse Arctic. The Greenlandic population, highly dependent on accurate forecasting of weather conditions, benefits directly from these real-time observations. For instance, extreme surface wind speeds are a high-risk element in Greenland. The third-highest wind speed observed at the surface of the Earth (93 m/s or 333 km/h), was recorded in a 8–9 March 1972 storm at Thule in North-West Greenland (Stansfield 1972). In this paper, we discuss the extent to which the Greenland ice sheet generates its own near-surface wind field. We use PROMICE data to gain insight into the interaction between air temperature, radiation and gravity-driven katabatic winds. We focus on a particularly powerful spring storm in 2013 that contributed to a fatality on an ice-sheet ski traverse attempt (Linden 2013)., Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE)

The Greenland ice sheet is losing mass (Barletta et al. 2012) and at least half of this loss is caused by an increase in surface melt (e.g. Tedesco et al. 2013). The other part is caused by increased dynamic mass loss, as marine-terminating glaciers lose resistive stresses (Nick et al. 2009) due to both retreat and meltwater lubrication at the bed (Sasgen et al. 2012). In 2007, the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) was initiated with the aim of gaining an insight into the causes of the ice-mass budget changes based on quantitative observations. This is primarily done by assessing how much mass is gained as snow accumulation on the surface versus how much is lost by calving and surface ablation (Ahlstrøm et al. 2008). PROMICE monitors the surface mass balance by means of automatic weather stations (AWSs) designed to quantify accumulation and ablation, as well as the specific energy sources contributing to ablation. These observations are vital to interpreting the physical mechanisms for ice-sheet response to climate change and for the calibration and validation of both satellite observations and climate models. In the wake of several record-breaking warm summers – increasing surface melt rate and extent (Nghiem et al. 2012) – interest in Greenland’s surface mass balance has increased (Tedesco et al. 2013). Observations of net ablation at PROMICE stations provided in situ confirmation of extreme massloss events in 2010 (Fausto et al. 2012) and 2012, primarily documented by other workers through satellite data. In this paper, we present atmospheric temperatures and surface solar reflectivity (known as albedo) of the Greenland ice sheet in the PROMICE period. Albedo modulates the absorption of solar radiation, which is the primary source of melt energy. It is reported to be decreasing in Greenland in recent years (Box et al. 2012), causing the monitoring of albedo variability to be increasingly important. Air temperatures, besides being stron, Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE)