[en] Analyses of remote sensing data, surface observations and output from a regional atmosphere model point to new records in 2010 for surface melt and albedo, runoff, the number of days when bare ice is exposed and surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet, especially over its west and southwest regions. Early melt onset in spring, triggered by above-normal near-surface air temperatures, contributed to accelerated snowpack metamorphism and premature bare ice exposure, rapidly reducing the surface albedo. Warm conditions persisted through summer, with the positive albedo feedback mechanism being a major contributor to large negative surface mass balance anomalies. Summer snowfall was below average. This helped to maintain low albedo through the 2010 melting season, which also lasted longer than usual.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Tedesco, Marco; The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, NY, USA
Fettweis, Xavier ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Topoclimatologie
van den Broeke, Michiel; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
van de Wal, Roderik; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Smeets, Paul; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
van de Berg, Willem Jan; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Serreze, Mark; National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, CO, USA
Box, Jason; Department of Geography, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Language :
English
Title :
The role of albedo and accumulation in the 2010 melting record in Greenland
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