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Evaluation of Reconstructions of Snow/Ice Melt in Greenland by Regional Atmospheric Climate Models Using Laser Altimetry Data
Author(s) -
Sutterley Tyler C.,
Velicogna Isabella,
Fettweis Xavier,
Rignot Eric,
Noël Brice,
Broeke Michiel
Publication year - 2018
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 - 10.1029/2018gl078645
Subject(s) - greenland ice sheet , elevation (ballistics) , snowmelt , snow , climatology , ice sheet , geology , firn , glacier mass balance , cryosphere , ice cloud , climate change , satellite , environmental science , glacier , sea ice , oceanography , geomorphology , geometry , mathematics , aerospace engineering , engineering
Abstract The surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet critically depends on the intensity of ice melt/snowmelt in its ablation zone, but in situ data have been too limited to quantify the error of regional climate models. Here we use 23 years of NASA satellite and airborne laser altimetry from the Airborne Topographic Mapper; Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor; and Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite to generate time series of elevation change to compare with surface mass balance products from the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model and from the Modèle Atmosphérique Régional. For 1994–2016, the results agree at the 15–26% level, with the largest discrepancy in North Greenland. During the cold summer of 2015, the root‐mean‐square discrepancy is 40% in the north, 30% in the southwest, and 18–25% at low elevation. The difference drops to 23% in the southwest and 14% at low elevation during the 2016 warm summer.