A daily, 1 km resolution data set of downscaled Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance (1958–2015)

B. Noël; W. J. van de Berg; H. Machguth; H. Machguth; H. Machguth; S. Lhermitte; I. Howat; X. Fettweis; M. R. van den Broeke

doi:10.5194/tc-10-2361-2016

The Cryosphere (Oct 2016)

A daily, 1 km resolution data set of downscaled Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance (1958–2015)

B. Noël,
W. J. van de Berg,
H. Machguth,
H. Machguth,
H. Machguth,
S. Lhermitte,
I. Howat,
X. Fettweis,
M. R. van den Broeke

Affiliations

B. Noël: Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
W. J. van de Berg: Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
H. Machguth: Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
H. Machguth: Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
H. Machguth: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland GEUS, Copenhagen, Denmark
S. Lhermitte: Department of Geoscience & Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
I. Howat: Byrd Polar Research Center and School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
X. Fettweis: Department of Geography, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
M. R. van den Broeke: Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2361-2016
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10
pp. 2361 – 2377

Abstract

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This study presents a data set of daily, 1 km resolution Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) surface mass balance (SMB) covering the period 1958–2015. Applying corrections for elevation, bare ice albedo and accumulation bias, the high-resolution product is statistically downscaled from the native daily output of the polar regional climate model RACMO2.3 at 11 km. The data set includes all individual SMB components projected to a down-sampled version of the Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) digital elevation model and ice mask. The 1 km mask better resolves narrow ablation zones, valley glaciers, fjords and disconnected ice caps. Relative to the 11 km product, the more detailed representation of isolated glaciated areas leads to increased precipitation over the southeastern GrIS. In addition, the downscaled product shows a significant increase in runoff owing to better resolved low-lying marginal glaciated regions. The combined corrections for elevation and bare ice albedo markedly improve model agreement with a newly compiled data set of ablation measurements.

Published in The Cryosphere

ISSN: 1994-0416 (Print); 1994-0424 (Online)
Publisher: Copernicus Publications
Country of publisher: Germany
LCC subjects: Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences; Science: Geology
Website: http://www.the-cryosphere.net/

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