Surface energy balance closure over melting snow and ice from in situ measurements on the Greenland ice sheet

Maurice van Tiggelen; Paul Smeets; Carleen  Reijmer; Dirk Van As; Robert S. Fausto; Jason E. Box; Shfaqat Abbas Khan; Eric Rignot; Michiel van den Broeke

doi:10.1017/jog.2024.68

Surface energy balance closure over melting snow and ice from in situ measurements on the Greenland ice sheet

Maurice van Tiggelen^*
, Paul Smeets
, Carleen Reijmer
, Dirk Van As
, Robert S. Fausto
, Jason E. Box
, Shfaqat Abbas Khan
, Eric Rignot
, Michiel van den Broeke

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
Utrecht University
Technical University of Denmark
extern
University of California Office of the President
California Institute of Technology
University of California at Irvine
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
University of California Irvine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Accurately quantifying all the components of the surface energy balance (SEB) is a prerequisite for the reliable estimation of surface melt and the surface mass balance over ice and snow. This study quantifies the SEB closure by comparing the energy available for surface melt, determined from continuous measurements of radiative fluxes and turbulent heat fluxes, to the surface ablation measured on the Greenland ice sheet between 2003 and 2023. We find that the measured daily energy available for surface melt exceeds the observed surface melt by on average 18 ± 30 W m−2 for snow and 12 ± 54 W m−2 for ice conditions (mean ± SD), which corresponds to 46 and 10% of the average energy available for surface melt, respectively. When the surface is not melting, the daily SEB is on average closed within 5 W m−2. Based on the inter-comparison of different ablation sensors and radiometers installed on different stations, and on the evaluation of modelled turbulent heat fluxes, we conclude that measurement uncertainties prevent a better daily to sub-daily SEB closure. These results highlight the need and challenges in obtaining accurate long-term in situ SEB observations for the proper evaluation of climate models and for the validation of remote sensing products.

Original language	English
Article number	e82
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Glaciology
Volume	70
Early online date	25 Sept 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2024.68
Publication status	Published - Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2024.

Funding

The authors appreciate all the persons and institutes that help maintaining the instruments in the field. The technical staff of the IMAU is acknowledged for the design, installation and maintenance of the IMAU stations. Data from the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) are provided by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) at http://www.promice.dk. S.A.K. acknowledges support from the NOVO Nordisk foundation grant No. NNF23OC00807040. M.R.v.d.B. acknowledges support from the Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC). The authors acknowledge support from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and its Netherlands Polar Program (NPP). This work is part of the Netherlands Polar Climate Monitoring Network project funded by NWO-NPP.

Funders	Funder number
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE)
Geological Survey of Denmark	NNF23OC00807040
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC)
Dutch Research Council (NWO) - NWO-NPP

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

energy balance
glaciological instruments and methods
ice/atmosphere interactions
melt - surface
snow/ice surface processes

Access to Document

10.1017/jog.2024.68Licence: CC BY

surface-energy-balance-closure-over-melting-snow-and-ice-from-in-situ-measurements-on-the-greenland-ice-sheetFinal published version, 3.83 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Surface energy balance closure over melting snow and ice from in situ measurements on the Greenland ice sheet",

abstract = "Accurately quantifying all the components of the surface energy balance (SEB) is a prerequisite for the reliable estimation of surface melt and the surface mass balance over ice and snow. This study quantifies the SEB closure by comparing the energy available for surface melt, determined from continuous measurements of radiative fluxes and turbulent heat fluxes, to the surface ablation measured on the Greenland ice sheet between 2003 and 2023. We find that the measured daily energy available for surface melt exceeds the observed surface melt by on average 18 ± 30 W m−2 for snow and 12 ± 54 W m−2 for ice conditions (mean ± SD), which corresponds to 46 and 10\% of the average energy available for surface melt, respectively. When the surface is not melting, the daily SEB is on average closed within 5 W m−2. Based on the inter-comparison of different ablation sensors and radiometers installed on different stations, and on the evaluation of modelled turbulent heat fluxes, we conclude that measurement uncertainties prevent a better daily to sub-daily SEB closure. These results highlight the need and challenges in obtaining accurate long-term in situ SEB observations for the proper evaluation of climate models and for the validation of remote sensing products.",

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doi = "10.1017/jog.2024.68",

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AU - van Tiggelen, Maurice

AU - Smeets, Paul

AU - Reijmer, Carleen

AU - Van As, Dirk

AU - Fausto, Robert S.

AU - Box, Jason E.

AU - Khan, Shfaqat Abbas

AU - Rignot, Eric

AU - van den Broeke, Michiel

PY - 2024/12

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N2 - Accurately quantifying all the components of the surface energy balance (SEB) is a prerequisite for the reliable estimation of surface melt and the surface mass balance over ice and snow. This study quantifies the SEB closure by comparing the energy available for surface melt, determined from continuous measurements of radiative fluxes and turbulent heat fluxes, to the surface ablation measured on the Greenland ice sheet between 2003 and 2023. We find that the measured daily energy available for surface melt exceeds the observed surface melt by on average 18 ± 30 W m−2 for snow and 12 ± 54 W m−2 for ice conditions (mean ± SD), which corresponds to 46 and 10% of the average energy available for surface melt, respectively. When the surface is not melting, the daily SEB is on average closed within 5 W m−2. Based on the inter-comparison of different ablation sensors and radiometers installed on different stations, and on the evaluation of modelled turbulent heat fluxes, we conclude that measurement uncertainties prevent a better daily to sub-daily SEB closure. These results highlight the need and challenges in obtaining accurate long-term in situ SEB observations for the proper evaluation of climate models and for the validation of remote sensing products.

AB - Accurately quantifying all the components of the surface energy balance (SEB) is a prerequisite for the reliable estimation of surface melt and the surface mass balance over ice and snow. This study quantifies the SEB closure by comparing the energy available for surface melt, determined from continuous measurements of radiative fluxes and turbulent heat fluxes, to the surface ablation measured on the Greenland ice sheet between 2003 and 2023. We find that the measured daily energy available for surface melt exceeds the observed surface melt by on average 18 ± 30 W m−2 for snow and 12 ± 54 W m−2 for ice conditions (mean ± SD), which corresponds to 46 and 10% of the average energy available for surface melt, respectively. When the surface is not melting, the daily SEB is on average closed within 5 W m−2. Based on the inter-comparison of different ablation sensors and radiometers installed on different stations, and on the evaluation of modelled turbulent heat fluxes, we conclude that measurement uncertainties prevent a better daily to sub-daily SEB closure. These results highlight the need and challenges in obtaining accurate long-term in situ SEB observations for the proper evaluation of climate models and for the validation of remote sensing products.

KW - energy balance

KW - glaciological instruments and methods

KW - ice/atmosphere interactions

KW - melt - surface

KW - snow/ice surface processes

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DO - 10.1017/jog.2024.68

M3 - Article

SN - 0022-1430

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JO - Journal of Glaciology

JF - Journal of Glaciology

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ER -

Surface energy balance closure over melting snow and ice from in situ measurements on the Greenland ice sheet

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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