Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica
<p>Atmospheric rivers (ARs) transport large amounts of moisture from the mid- to high-latitudes and they are a primary driver of the most extreme snowfall events, along with surface melting, in Antarctica. In this study, we characterize the climatology and surface impacts of ARs on West Antarc...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2023-02-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/865/2023/tc-17-865-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797901436018753536 |
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| author | M. L. Maclennan J. T. M. Lenaerts C. A. Shields A. O. Hoffman N. Wever M. Thompson-Munson A. C. Winters E. C. Pettit T. A. Scambos J. D. Wille |
| author_facet | M. L. Maclennan J. T. M. Lenaerts C. A. Shields A. O. Hoffman N. Wever M. Thompson-Munson A. C. Winters E. C. Pettit T. A. Scambos J. D. Wille |
| author_sort | M. L. Maclennan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Atmospheric rivers (ARs) transport large amounts of moisture from the mid- to high-latitudes and they are a primary driver of the most extreme
snowfall events, along with surface melting, in Antarctica. In this study, we characterize the climatology and surface impacts of ARs on West
Antarctica, focusing on the Amundsen Sea Embayment and Marie Byrd Land. First, we develop a climatology of ARs in this region, using an
Antarctic-specific AR detection tool combined with the
Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) atmospheric reanalyses. We find that while ARs are infrequent (occurring 3 % of the time), they cause intense precipitation in short periods of time and account for 11 % of the annual surface accumulation. They are driven by the coupling of a blocking high over the Antarctic Peninsula with a low-pressure system known as the Amundsen Sea Low. Next, we use observations from automatic weather stations on Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf with the firn model SNOWPACK and interferometric reflectometry (IR) to examine a case study of three ARs that made landfall in rapid succession from 2 to 8 February 2020, known as an AR family event. While accumulation dominates the surface impacts of the event on Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (<span class="inline-formula">></span> 100 <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−2</sup></span> or millimeters water equivalent), we find small amounts of surface melt as well (<span class="inline-formula"><</span> 5 <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−2</sup></span>). The results presented here enable us to quantify the past impacts of ARs on West Antarctica's surface mass balance (SMB) and characterize their interannual variability and trends, enabling a better assessment of future AR-driven changes in the SMB.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:02:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-410b172cb74541ccbdf658fd25dc18f8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:02:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Cryosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-410b172cb74541ccbdf658fd25dc18f82023-02-21T10:44:06ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe Cryosphere1994-04161994-04242023-02-011786588110.5194/tc-17-865-2023Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West AntarcticaM. L. Maclennan0J. T. M. Lenaerts1C. A. Shields2A. O. Hoffman3N. Wever4M. Thompson-Munson5A. C. Winters6E. C. Pettit7T. A. Scambos8J. D. Wille9Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USANational Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USADepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USACollege of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USAEarth Science and Observation Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USAInstitut des Géosciences de l'Environment, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France<p>Atmospheric rivers (ARs) transport large amounts of moisture from the mid- to high-latitudes and they are a primary driver of the most extreme snowfall events, along with surface melting, in Antarctica. In this study, we characterize the climatology and surface impacts of ARs on West Antarctica, focusing on the Amundsen Sea Embayment and Marie Byrd Land. First, we develop a climatology of ARs in this region, using an Antarctic-specific AR detection tool combined with the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) atmospheric reanalyses. We find that while ARs are infrequent (occurring 3 % of the time), they cause intense precipitation in short periods of time and account for 11 % of the annual surface accumulation. They are driven by the coupling of a blocking high over the Antarctic Peninsula with a low-pressure system known as the Amundsen Sea Low. Next, we use observations from automatic weather stations on Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf with the firn model SNOWPACK and interferometric reflectometry (IR) to examine a case study of three ARs that made landfall in rapid succession from 2 to 8 February 2020, known as an AR family event. While accumulation dominates the surface impacts of the event on Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (<span class="inline-formula">></span> 100 <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−2</sup></span> or millimeters water equivalent), we find small amounts of surface melt as well (<span class="inline-formula"><</span> 5 <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−2</sup></span>). The results presented here enable us to quantify the past impacts of ARs on West Antarctica's surface mass balance (SMB) and characterize their interannual variability and trends, enabling a better assessment of future AR-driven changes in the SMB.</p>https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/865/2023/tc-17-865-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | M. L. Maclennan J. T. M. Lenaerts C. A. Shields A. O. Hoffman N. Wever M. Thompson-Munson A. C. Winters E. C. Pettit T. A. Scambos J. D. Wille Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica The Cryosphere |
| title | Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica |
| title_full | Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica |
| title_fullStr | Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica |
| title_short | Climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on West Antarctica |
| title_sort | climatology and surface impacts of atmospheric rivers on west antarctica |
| url | https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/865/2023/tc-17-865-2023.pdf |
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