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Melt season duration on Canadian Arctic ice caps, 2000–2004
Author(s) -
Wang L.,
Sharp M. J.,
Rivard B.,
Marshall S.,
Burgess D.
Publication year - 2005
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 - 10.1029/2005gl023962
Subject(s) - bay , elevation (ballistics) , scatterometer , arctic , climatology , duration (music) , arctic ice pack , environmental science , geology , atmospheric sciences , sea ice , oceanography , wind speed , art , literature , geometry , mathematics
The extent and duration of summer melt on ice caps in the Queen Elizabeth Islands (QEI), Nunavut, Canada, in 2000–2004 were mapped using enhanced resolution QuikSCAT (QSCAT) scatterometer images. The mean melt duration depends mainly on surface elevation and distance from Baffin Bay. Over most ice caps, inter‐annual variations in melt duration and the variation in melt duration with elevation are closely related to variations in the July 500 hPa height over the QEI. Pressure‐related variability in the vertical gradient of near‐surface air temperature appears to be a major control on the inter‐annual variations in average melt duration.