Poster (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Microwave data and a regional climate model for studying the Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance over 1979-2009
Fettweis, Xavier; Marco, Tedesco
2010EGU General Assembly 2010
 

Files


Full Text
Fettweis-2010-EGU-Poster.pdf
Author postprint (2.08 MB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Abstract :
[en] Results (melt extent and winter accumulation) from an atmosphere-snow coupled regional climate model are compared with microwave brightness temperatures-derived estimates to study the surface mass balance (SMB) changes over the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) since 1979. Two simple algorithms are selected to retrieve the melt extent from the brightness temperatures. The first one is sensible to the production of surface meltwater as suggests the regional model and the second one is rather sensible to the presence of liquid water content into the snowpack. Both algorithms compare very well with model outputs and they are unanimous to show a significant increase of the surface melt over 1979-2009.We found also a good correlation between the March-April mean brightness temperatures and the simulated winter snow accumulation although no significant changes are found in both simulated and microwave-derived snow accumulation. The interannual variability of the brightness temperature-derived SMB components compare very well with the model results. This suggests that the variability of the model is reliable and that the model can be used to detect SMB changes over longer periods where no satellite data is available. Finally, both model and satellite agree to confirm the acceleration of the GrIS surface melting since 30 years.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Fettweis, Xavier  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Topoclimatologie
Marco, Tedesco;  City College of New York, USA
Language :
English
Title :
Microwave data and a regional climate model for studying the Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance over 1979-2009
Publication date :
03 May 2010
Event name :
EGU General Assembly 2010
Event place :
Vienna, Austria
Audience :
International
Commentary :
This poster is now published in The Cryosphere Discuss Journal: http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/4/2433/2010/tcd-4-2433-2010.html
Available on ORBi :
since 17 May 2010

Statistics


Number of views
180 (8 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
126 (3 by ULiège)

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi