Accumulation over the Greenland Ice Sheet as Represented in Reanalysis Data

Annual precipitation,evaporation,and calculated accumulation from reanalysis model outputs have been investigated for the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS),based on the common period of 1989-2001.The ERA-40 and ERA-interim reanalysis data showed better agreement with observations than do NCEP-1 and NCEP-2 reanalyses.Further,ERA-interim showed the closest spatial distribution of accumulation to the observation.Concerning temporal variations,ERA-interim showed the best correlation with precipitation observations at five synoptic stations,and the best correlation with in situ measurements of accumulation at nine ice core sites.The mean annual precipitation averaged over the whole GrIS from ERA-interim (363 mm yr 1) and mean annual accumulation (319 mm yr 1) are very close to the observations.The validation of accumulation calculated from reanalysis data against ice-core measurements suggests that further improvements to reanalysis models are needed.     

On the turbulence structure in the stable boundary layer over the Greenland ice sheet

Turbulence measurements from a 30 m tower in the stably stratifiedboundary layer over the Greenland ice sheet are analyzed. The observationsinclude profile and eddy-correlation measurements at various levels. Atfirst, the analysis of the turbulence data from the lowest level (2 m aboveground) shows that the linear form of the non-dimensional wind profile(m) is in good agreement with the observations for z/L <0.4, whereL represents the Obukhov length. A linear regression yieldsm=1+5.8z/L. The non-dimensional temperature profile (h) at the2m level shows no tendency to increase with increasing stability. The datafrom the upper levels of the tower are analyzed in terms of both localscaling and surface-layer scaling. The m and the h values show atendency to level off at large stability (z/>0.4) where represents the local Obukhov length. Hence, the linear form of the functions is no longer appropriate under such conditions. The bestcorrespondence to the data can be achieved when using the expression ofBeljaars and Holtslag for m and h. The vertical profiles of theturbulent fluxes, the wind velocity variances and temperature variance arealso determined. The momentum flux profile and the profiles of wind speedvariances are in general agreement with other observations if a welldeveloped low-level wind maximum occurs, and the height of this maximum isused as a height scale.     

Temporal and Spatial Variations of the Aerodynamic Roughness Length in the Ablation Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet

To understand the response of the Greenland ice sheet to climate change the so-called ablation zone is of particular importance, since it accommodates the yearly net surface ice loss. In numerical models and for data analysis, the bulk aerodynamic method is often used to calculate the turbulent surface fluxes, for which the aerodynamic roughness length (z ₀) is a key parameter. We present, for the first time, spatial and temporal variations of z ₀ in the ablation area of the Greenland ice sheet using year-round data from three automatic weather stations and one eddy-correlation mast. The temporal variation of z ₀ is found to be very high in the lower ablation area (factor 500) with, at the end of the summer melt, a maximum in spatial variation for the whole ablation area of a factor 1000. The variation in time matches the onset of the accumulation and ablation season as recovered by sonic height rangers. During winter, snow accumulation and redistribution by snow drift lead to a uniform value of z ₀≈ 10⁻⁴ m throughout the ablation area. At the beginning of summer, snow melt uncovers ice hummocks and z ₀ quickly increases well above 10⁻² m in the lower ablation area. At the end of summer melt, hummocky ice dominates the surface with z ₀ > 5  ×  10⁻³ m up to 60 km from the ice edge. At the same time, the area close to the equilibrium line (about 90 km from the ice edge) remains very smooth with z ₀ = 10⁻⁵ m. At the beginning of winter, we observed that single snow events have the potential to lower z ₀ for a very rough ice surface by a factor of 20 to 50. The total surface drag of the abundant small-scale ice hummocks apparently dominates over the less frequent large domes and deep gullies. The latter results are verified by studying the individual drag contributions of hummocks and domes with a drag partition model.     

Gas phase measurements of hydrogen peroxide in Greenland and their meaning for the interpretation of H2O2 records in ice cores

The gas phase concentration of hydrogen peroxide at Summit, Central Greenland, has been measured continuously during June/July 1990 using a coil scrubber technique combined with liquid phase fluorometry. The concentrations ranged between 0.3 ppbv and 3.5 ppbv, which is considerably higher than expected from model calculations and can be explained by low deposition rates. The record shows pronounced diurnal variations with minimum concentrations during night and maximum concentrations in the afternoon. The nocturnal minima can be explained by scavenging of H₂O₂ by hoarfrost. The scavenging mechanisms of H₂O₂ by snow and the redistribution of H₂O₂ during firnification are discussed. There is indirect evidence, that H₂O₂ is uniformly distributed in the ice lattice and that the fractionation between H₂O₂ and H₂O is small during diffusional crystal growth from the vapor phase (co-condensation).     

近40年5-6月东北亚和北半球其他区域阻塞高压活动特征及其联系

基于美国环境预报中心/国家大气研究中心(NCEP/NCAR-Ⅰ)再分析资料,按照国际通行的阻塞高压(阻高)定义,采用计算机自动识别和天气图人工主、客观相结合的检测方法,获得了1979—2018年5月和6月逐日北半球中高纬度阻高活动的无缝隙分布;并利用线性相关和信息流因果关系等统计方法,研究了东北亚(鄂霍次克海)阻高与北半球其他阻高活动区特征及其联系。根据阻高活动集中程度与占北半球活动总天数的百分比,选定8个5月阻高主要活动区和10个6月阻高主要活动区。从统计结果来看,5月北太平洋、北美和乌拉尔山阻高活动占前3位,6月东北亚阻高活动天数跃升第1位。值得注意的是,初夏在贝加尔湖以南、青藏高原以北地区出现了明显的阻塞形势,称为青藏高原北阻高。5月和6月北半球各阻高活动中心集中的纬度分布,自西向东具有"正弦波"特征,其主要活动区引起的同期北半球500 hPa高度场的异常虽不尽相同,但均具有一定的遥相关特征;5月和6月东北亚阻高活动天数的年际变化分量具有明显的相对独立性。5月东北亚阻高是6月贝加尔湖阻高活动年际变化的稳定影响源,是6月青藏高原北阻高活动年际变化的不稳定影响源;唯有5月北太平洋阻高...