TY - JOUR
T1 - Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass Loss
T2 - Recent Developments in Observation and Modeling
AU - van den Broeke, Michiel
AU - Box, Jason
AU - Fettweis, Xavier
AU - Hanna, Edward
AU - Noël, Brice
AU - Tedesco, Marco
AU - van As, Dirk
AU - van de Berg, Willem Jan
AU - van Kampenhout, Leo
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Surface processes currently dominate Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) mass loss. We review recent developments in the observation and modeling of GrIS surface mass balance (SMB), published after the July 2012 deadline for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5). Since IPCC AR5, our understanding of GrIS SMB has further improved, but new observational and model studies have also revealed that temporal and spatial variability of many processes are still poorly quantified and understood, e.g., bio-albedo, the formation of ice lenses and their impact on lateral meltwater transport, heterogeneous vertical meltwater transport (‘piping’), the impact of atmospheric-circulation changes and mixed-phase clouds on the surface energy balance, and the magnitude of turbulent heat exchange over rough ice surfaces. As a result, these processes are only schematically or not at all included in models that are currently used to assess and predict future GrIS surface mass loss.
AB - Surface processes currently dominate Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) mass loss. We review recent developments in the observation and modeling of GrIS surface mass balance (SMB), published after the July 2012 deadline for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5). Since IPCC AR5, our understanding of GrIS SMB has further improved, but new observational and model studies have also revealed that temporal and spatial variability of many processes are still poorly quantified and understood, e.g., bio-albedo, the formation of ice lenses and their impact on lateral meltwater transport, heterogeneous vertical meltwater transport (‘piping’), the impact of atmospheric-circulation changes and mixed-phase clouds on the surface energy balance, and the magnitude of turbulent heat exchange over rough ice surfaces. As a result, these processes are only schematically or not at all included in models that are currently used to assess and predict future GrIS surface mass loss.
KW - Greenland ice sheet
KW - modelling
KW - observations
KW - surface mass balance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050496756&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40641-017-0084-8
DO - 10.1007/s40641-017-0084-8
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85050496756
SN - 2198-6061
VL - 3
SP - 345
EP - 356
JO - Current Climate Change Reports
JF - Current Climate Change Reports
IS - 4
ER -