A daily, 1 km resolution data set of downscaled Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance (1958–2015)

Journal article (2016)

Authors

Brice Noël Universiteit Utrecht
Willem Jan Van De Berg Universiteit Utrecht
S.L.M. Lhermitte Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning - CEG
Michiel R. Van Den Broeke Universiteit Utrecht
Research Group
Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning (CEG) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2016 Brice Noël, Willem Jan van de Berg, Horst Machguth, S.L.M. Lhermitte, Ian Howat, Xavier Fettweis, Michiel R. van den Broeke
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2361-2016
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Published Date

2016

Language

English

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Geoscience and Remote Sensing

Research Group

Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning

Abstract

This study presents a data set of daily, 1 km resolution Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) surface mass balance (SMB) covering the period 1958–2015. Applying corrections for elevation, bare ice albedo and accumulation bias, the high-resolution product is statistically downscaled from the native daily output of the polar regional climate model RACMO2.3 at 11 km. The data set includes all individual SMB components projected to a down-sampled version of the Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) digital elevation model and ice mask. The 1 km mask better resolves narrow ablation zones, valley glaciers, fjords and disconnected ice caps. Relative to the 11 km product, the more detailed representation of isolated glaciated areas leads to increased precipitation over the southeastern GrIS. In addition, the downscaled product shows a significant increase in runoff owing to better resolved low-lying marginal glaciated regions. The combined corrections for elevation and bare ice albedo markedly improve model agreement with a newly compiled data set of ablation measurements.