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| Titel |
Using a regional climate model to derive melt extent and volume at the surface of Antarctic ice shelves |
| VerfasserIn |
Peter Kuipers Munneke, Michiel van den Broeke, Ghislain Picard |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2011
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 13 (2011) |
| Datensatznummer |
250045559
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Meltwater that is produced at the surface of an ice shelf can fill up crevasses and deepen
them, eventually leading to the complete disintegration of the ice shelf. Assessing the volume
of meltwater produced around the Antarctic continent is challenging and requires a regional
climate model equipped with good snow physics for estimating various parts of the
surface mass balance. RACMO2.1/ANT is such a model, and has been run over the
continent at 27x27 km2 resolution from 1989–2009 using ERA Interim fields as
lateral domain boundaries. The model features a sophisticated multi-layer snow
scheme allowing for melt, percolation, refreezing and runoff. A new snow albedo
scheme based on snow grain size evolution allows for simulating realistically the
strongly positive feedback between melt and albedo. For the period 1989–2009, melt
extent and duration from RACMO2.1/ANT are validated against microwave-derived
melt extent and duration using the SSM/I satellite sensors. The agreement between
RACMO2.1/ANT and the satellite-derived products is very good if care is taken to
synchronize the model output with the timing of the satellite overpasses (early
morning and late evening). RACMO2.1/ANT is subsequently used to assess how much
melting is missed by the satellites due to the unfavourable overpass times, and to
complement satellite melt extent and duration with a time series of melt water volume. |
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