Abstract
<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> The Arctic is undergoing increased warming compared to the global mean, which has major implications for fresh-water runoff into the oceans from seasonal snow and glaciers. Here, we present high-resolution (2.5 km) simulations of glacier mass balance, runoff and snow conditions in Svalbard from 1991–2022, one of the fastest warming regions in the Arctic. The simulations are created using the CryoGrid community model forced by both CARRA reanalysis (1991–2021) and AROME-ARCTIC forecasts (2016–2022). Updates to the water percolation and runoff scheme are implemented in the CryoGrid model for the simulations. In-situ observations available for Svalbard are used to carefully evaluate the quality of the simulations and model forcing. The overlap period of 2016–2021, when both CARRA and AROME-ARCTIC data are available, is used to evaluate the consistency between the two forcing datasets. We find a slightly negative climatic mass balance (cmb) over the simulation period of −0.08 m w.e. yr<sup>−1</sup>, but with no statistically significant trend. The average runoff was found to be 41 Gt yr<sup>−1</sup>, with an significant increasing trend of 6.3 Gt decade<sup>−1</sup>. In addition, we find the simulated climatic mass balance and runoff using CARRA and AROME-ARCTIC forcing are similar, and differ by only 0.1 m w.e. in climatic mass balance and by 0.2 m w.e. in glacier runoff when averaged over all of Svalbard. There is, however, a clear difference over Nordenskiöldland, where AROME-ARCTIC simulates significantly higher mass balance and significantly lower runoff. This indicates that AROME-ARCTIC may provide high-quality predictions of the total mass balance of Svalbard, but regional uncertainties should be taken into consideration. The data produced from both the CARRA and AROME-ARCTIC forced CryoGrid simulations are made publicly available, and these high resolution simulation may be re-used in a wide range of applications including studies on glacial runoff, ocean currents, and ecosystems
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.