Abstract

Assessing changes in the density of snow and firn is vital to convert volume changes into mass changes on glaciers and ice sheets. Firn models simulate this process but typically rely upon steady-state assumptions and geographically and temporally limited sets of field measurements for validation. Given rapid changes recently observed in Greenland’s surface mass balance, a contemporary dataset measuring firn compaction in a range of climate zones across the Greenland ice sheet’s accumulation zone is needed. To fill this need, the Firn Compaction Verification and Reconnaissance (FirnCover) dataset comprises daily measurements from 50 strainmeters installed in boreholes at eight sites on the Greenland ice sheet between 2013 and 2019. The dataset also includes daily records of two-meter air temperature, snow height, and snow temperature from each station. The majority of the FirnCover stations were installed in close proximity to automated weather stations that measure a wider suite of meteorological measurements, allowing the user access to auxiliary datasets for model validation studies using FirnCover data. The dataset can be found here: https://www.doi.org/10.18739/A25X25D7M (MacFerrin et al., 2021).

Highlights

  • Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is currently one of the largest direct contributors to sea-level rise (IPCC, 2013), and the majority of that loss since the early 2000s has been due to significant increases in surface melt and runoff (Velicogna et al, 2014, van den Broeke et al, 2016; Mottram et al, 2019)

  • The Firn Compaction Verification and Reconnaissance (FirnCover) dataset comprises daily measurements from 50 strainmeters installed in boreholes at eight sites on the Greenland ice sheet between 2013 and 2019

  • We present the Firn Compaction 45 Verification and Reconnaissance (FirnCover) dataset, which comprises measurements of firn compaction, depth-density profiles, and temperatures from eight sites on the GrIS

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Summary

Introduction

Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is currently one of the largest direct contributors to sea-level rise (IPCC, 2013), and the majority of that loss since the early 2000s has been due to significant increases in surface melt and runoff (Velicogna et al, 2014, van den Broeke et al, 2016; Mottram et al, 2019). Near-surface ice slabs have formed in western Greenland’s firn These slabs block percolation and reduce the buffering capacity, and promote lateral runoff (Machguth et al, 2016, MacFerrin et al 2019). The development of these features is 40 the result of increased melt volume (MacFerrin et al 2019), increased near-surface firn densities, and sufficient cold content to sustain meltwater refreezing (Vandecrux et al, 2020). Knowing the depth and age of the firn-ice transition is important for the interpretation of climate records from ice cores (Schwander and Stauffer, 1984; Adolf and Albert., 2014) In all these cases, knowledge of the firn’s compaction rate is crucial, yet to date there are relatively few in situ measurements of firn compaction, and there is no single, widely accepted model to simulate it. We present the Firn Compaction 45 Verification and Reconnaissance (FirnCover) dataset, which comprises measurements of firn compaction, depth-density profiles, and temperatures from eight sites on the GrIS

Background
The FirnCover stations and dataset
The FirnCover strainmeters
Air temperature, surface height and firn temperature observations
Firn core and snow pit observations
Dataset structure and handling
Data overview and preliminary analysis
280 6. Summary remarks
12. Appendix
Findings
13. References
Full Text
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