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Altitude dependence of the ice sheet surface climate
Author(s) -
Krinner G.,
Genthon C.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl900536
Subject(s) - precipitation , climatology , elevation (ballistics) , altitude (triangle) , plateau (mathematics) , atmospheric sciences , general circulation model , climate model , environmental science , greenland ice sheet , climate change , ice sheet , sea level , climate sensitivity , geology , oceanography , meteorology , geography , geometry , mathematics , mathematical analysis
The dependence of surface climate on elevation changes is evaluated for Greenland and Antarctica in an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) sensitivity study. The results indicate a rather low temperature sensitivity of ≈ −5 K km −1 near the coasts, which is weaker than the values often used in parameterizations in climate models. In the plateau areas, the sensitivity is stronger (−10 K km −1 ). Relative precipitation change is relatively strong (≈ −10%/100m) on the plateaus, while near the coasts, precipitation strengthens when the surface elevation is increased.