Surface energy balance sensitivity to meteorological variability on Haig Glacier, Canadian Rocky Mountains
Energy exchanges between the atmosphere and the glacier surface control the net energy available for snow and ice melt. This paper explores the response of a midlatitude glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains to daily and interannual variations in the meteorological parameters that govern the surfa...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-11-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/2799/2016/tc-10-2799-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Energy exchanges between the atmosphere and the glacier surface control the
net energy available for snow and ice melt. This paper explores the response
of a midlatitude glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains to daily and
interannual variations in the meteorological parameters that govern the
surface energy balance. We use an energy balance model to run sensitivity
tests to perturbations in temperature, specific humidity, wind speed,
incoming shortwave radiation, glacier surface albedo, and winter snowpack
depth. Variables are perturbed (i) in isolation, (ii) including internal
feedbacks, and (iii) with co-evolution of meteorological perturbations,
derived from the North American regional climate reanalysis (NARR) over the
period 1979–2014. Summer melt at this site has the strongest sensitivity to
interannual variations in temperature, albedo, and specific humidity, while
fluctuations in cloud cover, wind speed, and winter snowpack depth have less
influence. Feedbacks to temperature forcing, in particular summer albedo
evolution, double the melt sensitivity to a temperature change. When
meteorological perturbations covary through the NARR forcing, summer
temperature anomalies remain important in driving interannual summer energy
balance and melt variability, but they are reduced in importance relative to
an isolated temperature forcing. Covariation of other variables (e.g., clear
skies, giving reduced incoming longwave radiation) may be partially
compensating for the increase in temperature. The methods introduced in this
paper provide a framework that can be extended to compare the sensitivity of
glaciers in different climate regimes, e.g., polar, maritime, or tropical
environments, and to assess the importance of different meteorological
parameters in different regions. |
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| ISSN: | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |