Investigation of Surface Melting in West Antarctica

Investigation of Surface Melting in West Antarctica PDF Author: Xun Zou
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study first investigates the foehn effect at the beginning of the 2016 event via the AMPS output. The foehn effect increases surface temperature by up to 4 oC on the leeside of the coastal mountains over Marie Byrd Land and around 1 o C over mountain ranges in Edward VII Peninsula. Dry adiabatic warming triggered by isentropic drawdown is the dominant contributor, followed by sensible heat flux resulting from the turbulence, and lastly thermodynamic heating sourced from latent heat release on the upwind side.

The Prominent West Antarctic Surface Melt Event of January 2016

The Prominent West Antarctic Surface Melt Event of January 2016 PDF Author: Xun Zou
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric physics
Languages : en
Pages : 135

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Ross Ice Shelf buttresses ice streams from the Antarctic continent and restrains the grounded ice sheet from flowing into the ocean. Mostly affected by large-scale of atmospheric variability, West Antarctica has undergone some surface warming. In the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), the increasing trend of summer surface air temperature since the 1950s is contributing to the break-up of ice shelves, promoting glacier acceleration and ultimately increase ice loss and sea level rise. The mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has increased in the past two decades, especially around the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Sea regions. For areas like the AP, surface melting plays a significant role in the ice shelf loss. Over most ice shelves outside of the AP, basal melting dominates surface ice shelf thinning at present. However, according to climate model projections, substantial surface melting may occur in West Antarctica in the future, especially over the Ross Ice Shelf. It is unclear if this projected surface melting will also result in continental ice loss as it has and continues to do in the AP.

Polar Environments and Global Change

Polar Environments and Global Change PDF Author: Roger G. Barry
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108423167
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 445

Get Book Here

Book Description
Surveys atmospheric, oceanic and cryospheric processes, present and past conditions, and changes in polar environments.

Energetics of Surface Melt in West Antarctica

Energetics of Surface Melt in West Antarctica PDF Author: Madison Ghiz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Get Book Here

Book Description
Surface melting is an important mass loss process from ice sheets. In West Antarctica, the lack of direct surface observations poses difficulties in studying surface melt and loss of ice mass. This thesis presents seven contrasting cases in which surface melt was detected by satellite passive microwave sensors and analyzed using both reanalysis data and satellite data. During these melt events meteorological conditions caused the total melt energy to elevate for anywhere between 3-8 days, compared with the rest of the month. This elevated melt energy can be induced by four main mechanisms typical of the austral summer climate described in this study. These mechanisms are thermal blanketing from optically thick clouds; thin clouds enhancing all-wave radiation at the surface; sensible heat flux preconditioning the surface to melt; and föhn wind presence on the lee side of mountains. The study locations are Siple Dome, Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers, the southern portion of the Ross Ice Shelf, and the Larsen C Ice Shelf. Through assessing the surface energy budget, total melt energy, temperature and wind components, and cloud microphysics with regards to both 25-km resolution and small-scale spatial variability, the importance of using the highest resolution data available is demonstrated. This study not only defines drivers of West Antarctic melt, but identifies improvements that could be made to the methods and data sets used to quantify the climatology of surface melt.

Dynamics of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Dynamics of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet PDF Author: C.J. van der Veen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400937458
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Get Book Here

Book Description
Few scientists doubt the prediction that the antropogenic release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lead to some warming of the earth's climate. So there is good reason to investigate the possible effects of such a warming, in dependence of geographical and social economic setting. Many bodies, governmental or not, have organized meetings and issued reports in which the carbon dioxide problem is defined, reviewed, and possible threats assessed. The rate at which such reports are produced still increases. However, while more and more people are getting involved in the 'carbon dioxide business', the number of investigators working on the basic problems grows, in our view, too slowly. Many fundamental questions are still not answered in a satisfactory way, and the carbon dioxide building rests on a few thin pillars. One such fundamental question concerns the change in sea level associated with a climatic warming of a few degrees. A number of processes can be listed that could all lead to changes of the order of tens of centimeters (e. g. thermal expansion, change in mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets). But the picture of the carbon dioxide problem has frequently be made more dramatic by suggesting that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is unstable, implying a certain probability of a 5 m higher sea-level stand within a few centuries.

Antarctic Peninsula Climate Variability

Antarctic Peninsula Climate Variability PDF Author: Eugene Domack
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Antarctic Research Series, Volume 79. The Antarctic Peninsula region represents our best natural laboratory to investigate how earth's major climate systems interact and how such systems respond to rapid regional warming. The scale of environmental changes now taking place across the region is large and their pace rapid but the subsystems involved are still small enough to observe and accurately document cause and affect mechanisms. For example, clarification of ice shelf stability via the Larsen Ice Shelf is vital to understanding the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet, its climate evolution, and its response to and control of sea level. By encompassing the broadest range of interdisciplinary studies, this volume provides the global change research and educational communities a framework in which to advance our knowledge of the causes behind regional warming, the dramatic glacial and ecological responses, and the potential uniqueness of the event within the region's paleoclimate record. The volume also serves as a vital resource for public policy and governmental funding agencies as well as a means to educate the large number of ecotourists that visit the region each austral summer.

Abrupt Climate Change

Abrupt Climate Change PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric ozone
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Get Book Here

Book Description


West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative: Science and implementation plan

West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative: Science and implementation plan PDF Author: Robert A. Bindschadler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ice sheets
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Get Book Here

Book Description


Abrupt Climate Change

Abrupt Climate Change PDF Author: Peter U. Clark
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437915698
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Get Book Here

Book Description
This report is part of a series of 21 Synthesis and Assessments (SAP) aimed at providing current assessments of climate change science to inform public debate, policy, and operational decisions. These reports are also intended to help develop future program research priorities. The guiding vision is to provide the Nation and the global community with the science-based knowledge needed to manage the risks and capture the opportunities associated with climate and related environmental changes. This SAP assesses abrupt climate change events where key aspects of the climate system change faster than the responsible forces would suggest and/or faster than society can respond to those changes. Illustrations.

Synoptic and Mesoscale Climate Forcing on Antarctic Ice Shelf Surface Melt Dynamics

Synoptic and Mesoscale Climate Forcing on Antarctic Ice Shelf Surface Melt Dynamics PDF Author: Christopher Karmosky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 111

Get Book Here

Book Description