Climate sensitivity studies of the Greenland ice sheet using satellite AVHRR,SMMR, SSM/I and in situ data

Summary The feasibility of using satellite data for climate research over the Greenland ice sheet is discussed. In particular, we demonstrate the usefulness of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Local Area Coverage (LAC) and Global Area Coverage (GAC) data for narrow-band albedo retrieval. Our study supports the use of lower resolution AVHRR (GAC) data for process studies over most of the Greenland ice sheet. Based on LAC data time series analysis, we can resolve relative albedo changes on the order of 2–5%. In addition, we examine Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) passive microwave data for snow typing and other signals of climatological significance. Based on relationships between in situ measurements and horizontally polarized 19 and 37 GHz observations, wet snow regions are identified. The wet snow regions increase in aerial percentage from 9% of the total ice surface in June to a maximum of 26% in August 1990. Furthermore, the relationship between brightness temperatures and accumulation rates in the northeastern part of Greenland is described. We found a consistent increase in accumulation rate for the northeastern part of the ice sheet from 1981 to 1986.With 16 Figures     

Snowpack model estimates of the mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet and its changes over the twentyfirst century

The performance of a snow cover model in capturing the ablation on the Greenland ice sheet is evaluated. This model allows an explicit calculation of the formation of melt water, of the fraction of melt water which re-freezes, and of runoff in the ablation region. The input climate variables to the snowpack model come from two climate models. While the higher resolution general circulation model (ECHAM 4), is closest to observations in its estimate of accumulation, it fails to give accurate results in its predictions of runoff, primarily in the southern half of the ice sheet. The two-dimensional low-resolution climate model (MIT 2D LO) produces estimates of runoff from the Greenland ice sheet within the range of uncertainty of the Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC1) 1995 estimates. Both models reproduce some of the characteristics of the extent of the wet snow zone observed with satellite remote sensing; the MIT model is closer to observations in terms of areal extent and intensity of the melting in the southern half of the ice-sheet in July and August while the ECHAM model reproduces melting in the northern half of the ice sheet well. Changes in runoff from Greenland and Antarctica are often cited as one of the major concerns linked to anthropogenic changes in climate. Because it is based on physical principles and relies on the surface energy balance as input, the snow cover model can respond to the current climatic forcing as well as to future changes in climate on the century time scale without the limitations inherent in empirical parametrizations. For a reference climate scenario similar to the IPCC's IS92a, the model projects that the Greenland ice sheet does not contribute significantly to changes in the level of the ocean over the twenty-first century. Increases in accumulation over the central portion of the ice sheet offset most of the increase in melting and runoff, which takes place along the margins of the ice sheet. The range of uncertainty in the predictions of sea-level rise is estimated by repeating the calculation with the MIT model for seven climate change scenarios. The range is –0.5 to 1.7 cm.     

RTTOV和CRTM对“罗莎”台风卫星微波观测的模拟研究与比较

快速辐射传输模式中水成物辐射效应的考虑对卫星观测模拟具有重要的影响。利用区域中尺度数值模式WRF预报输出水成物含量和温湿廓线等参数,使用欧洲中期数值天气预报中心和美国卫星资料同化联合中心发展建立的快速辐射传输模式RTTOV和CRTM,结合雅可比模式计算得到的响应函数,分析了各种水成物辐射效应对AMSUA/B卫星微波观测各通道亮温模拟的影响,并比较了RTTOV和CRTM结果间的异同。结果表明,RTTOV和CRTM两个快速辐射传输模式计算得到的水成物响应函数和水成物辐射效应对模拟亮温影响特征基本一致,但量级上存在差异。雅可比表征的水成物响应函数和水成物本身的分布层次对应关系良好,云水和雨水的响应函数主要分布在中下层,冰水和雪则分布在中上层。相对于RTTOV,CRTM计算得到的水成物响应函数要大一些。对AMSUA,云水和雨水的辐射效应对通道模拟亮温主要以增温为主,尤其是在低频的窗区通道,冰晶和雪则体现散射效应为主的降温作用。对AMSUB,水成物辐射效应的考虑使得模拟亮温降低,尤其是通道2降温幅度最大。CRTM计算出的水成物辐射效应带来的模拟亮温变化幅度大于RTTOV。目前,CRTM除了考虑云、雨、冰和雪4种水成物外,还考虑霰和雹的辐射效应,对水成物辐射效应的考虑比RTTOV更完善一些。     

Greenland surface mass balance simulated by a regional climate model and comparison with satellite-derived data in 1990–1991

The 1990 and 1991 ablation seasons over Greenland are simulated with a coupled atmosphere-snow regional climate model with a 25-km horizontal resolution. The simulated snow water content allows a direct comparison with the satellite-derived melt signal. The model is forced with 6-hourly ERA-40 reanalysis at its boundaries. An evaluation of the simulated precipitation and a comparison of the modelled melt zone and the surface albedo with remote sensing observations are presented. Both the distribution and quantity of the simulated precipitation agree with observations from coastal weather stations, estimates from other models and the ERA-40 reanalysis. There are overestimations along the steep eastern coast, which are most likely due to the “topographic barrier effect”. The simulated extent and time evolution of the wet snow zone compare generally well with satellite-derived data, except during rainfall events on the ice sheet and because of a bias in the passive microwave retrieved melt signal. Although satellite-based surface albedo retrieval is only valid in the case of clear sky, the interpolation and the correction of these data enable us to validate the simulated albedo on the scale of the whole Greenland. These two comparisons highlight a large sensitivity of the remote sensing observations to weather conditions. Our high-resolution climate model was used to improve the retrieval algorithms by taking more fully into account the atmosphere variability. Finally, the good agreement of the simulated melting surface with the improved satellite signal allows a detailed estimation of the melting volume from the simulation.     

Recent precipitation trends over the polar ice sheets

Summary Meteorological and glaciological analyses are integrated to examine the precipitation trends during the last three decades over the ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland. For Antarctica, the best data source is provided by glaciologically-measured trends of snow accumulation, and for limited sectors of East Antarctica consistency with precipitation amounts calculated from the atmospheric water balance equation is obtained. For Greenland, precipitation rates parameterized from atmospheric analyses yield the only comprehensive depiction. The precipitation rate over Antarctica appears to have increased by about 5% over a time period spanning the accumulation means for the 1955–65 to 1965–75 periods, while over Greenland it has decreased by about 15% since 1983 with a secondary increase over the southern part of the ice sheet starting in 1977. At the end of the 10-year overlapping period, the global sea-level impact of the precipitation changes over Antarctica dominates that for Greenland and yields a net ice-sheet precipitation contribution of roughly 0.02 mm yr^–1. These changes are likely due to marked variations in the cyclonic forcing affecting the ice sheets, but are only weakly reflected in the temperature regime, consistent with the episodic nature of cyclonic precipitation. These conclusions are not founded on high quality data bases. The importance of such changes for understanding global sea-level variations argues for a modest research effort to collect simultaneous meteorological and glaciological observations in order to describe and understand the current precipitation variations over both ice sheets. Some suggestions are offered for steps that could be taken.With 8 Figures     

Evaluation of pan-Arctic melt-freeze onset in CMIP5 climate models and reanalyses using surface observations

The seasonal melt-freeze transitions are fundamental features of the Arctic climate system. The representation of the pan-Arctic melt and freeze onset (north of 60°N) is assessed in two reanalyses and eleven CMIP5 global circulation models (GCMs). The seasonal melt-freeze transitions are retrieved from surface air temperature (SAT) across the land and sea-ice domains and evaluated against surface observations. While monthly averages of SAT are reasonably well represented in models, large model-observation and model–model disparities of timing of melt and freeze onset are evident. The evaluation against surface observations reveals that the ERA-Interim reanalysis performs the best, closely followed by some of the climate models. GCMs and reanalyses capture the seasonal melt-freeze transitions better in the central Arctic than in the marginal seas and across the land areas. The GCMs project that during the 21st century, the summer length—the period between melt and freeze onset—will increase over land by about 1 month at all latitudes, and over sea ice by 1 and 3 months at low and high latitudes, respectively. This larger summer-length increase over sea ice at progressively higher latitudes is related to a retreat of summer sea ice during the 21st century, since open water freezes roughly 40 days later than ice-covered ocean. As a consequence, by the year 2100, the freeze onset is projected to be initiated within roughly 10 days across the whole Arctic Ocean, whereas this transition varies by about 80 days today.     

Evaluation of a high-resolution regional climate simulation over Greenland

A simulation of the 1991 summer has been performed over south Greenland with a coupled atmosphere–snow regional climate model (RCM) forced by the ECMWF re-analysis. The simulation is evaluated with in-situ coastal and ice-sheet atmospheric and glaciological observations. Modelled air temperature, specific humidity, wind speed and radiative fluxes are in good agreement with the available observations, although uncertainties in the radiative transfer scheme need further investigation to improve the model’s performance. In the sub-surface snow-ice model, surface albedo is calculated from the simulated snow grain shape and size, snow depth, meltwater accumulation, cloudiness and ice albedo. The use of snow metamorphism processes allows a realistic modelling of the temporal variations in the surface albedo during both melting periods and accumulation events. Concerning the surface albedo, the main finding is that an accurate albedo simulation during the melting season strongly depends on a proper initialization of the surface conditions which mainly result from winter accumulation processes. Furthermore, in a sensitivity experiment with a constant 0.8 albedo over the whole ice sheet, the average amount of melt decreased by more than 60%, which highlights the importance of a correctly simulated surface albedo. The use of this coupled atmosphere–snow RCM offers new perspectives in the study of the Greenland surface mass balance due to the represented feedback between the surface climate and the surface albedo, which is the most sensitive parameter in energy-balance-based ablation calculations.     

基于亮温通道变率的FY-3C微波湿度计陆地云检测新方法

云检测是卫星资料同化的重要前处理步骤,无论是晴空资料同化还是有云资料同化,都需要准确地区分有云和晴空资料。由于陆地地表发射率的多变性和微波能穿透部分云类的特点,微波湿度计资料在陆地上空的云检测研究一直是难点。利用快速辐射传输模式（CRTM）分析了不同云类条件下FY-3C微波湿度计（MWHS-Ⅱ）各通道亮温的通道间变率特征,根据MWHS-Ⅱ亮温通道间变率随云高以及云中液态水含量的增大而减小的特点,提出了一个基于亮温通道变率的MWHS-Ⅱ陆地资料云检测方法。与已有的云产品比较结果表明:新的云检测算法能有效地剔除大部分受云影响的资料,剔除后的晴空资料观测和模拟偏差更好地符合高斯分布。新方法对过冷水云、冰云、重叠云的检测能力较强,正确检测率可以达到80%,对卷云以及高度较低的水云的检测能力相对较弱。新方法能有效利用MWHS-Ⅱ观测资料自身完成云检测,在MWHS-Ⅱ资料同化中有很好的应用前景。      

霰谱分布特征对强对流云高频微波亮温影响的模拟研究

利用WRF中尺度模式和MWRT微波辐射传输模式,对一次理想对流单体云降水过程进行模拟,研究了霰谱参数对强对流降水云高频微波辐射亮温的影响.结果表明:霰谱参数的改变对对流单体云中冰相水凝物质量浓度分布和高频微波亮温均有影响.减小(增大)霰密度参数会导致霰谱宽度增大(减小),从而导致霰的碰并效率提高(降低),霰空间最大质量...     

The 1988–2003 Greenland ice sheet melt extent using passive microwave satellite data and a regional climate model

Measurements from ETH-Camp and JAR1 AWS (West Greenland) as well as coupled atmosphere-snow regional climate simulations have highlighted flaws in the cross-polarized gradient ratio (XPGR) technique used to identify melt from passive microwave satellite data. It was found that dense clouds (causing notably rainfall) on the ice sheet severely perturb the XPGR melt signal. Therefore, the original XPGR melt detection algorithm has been adapted to better incorporate atmospheric variability over the ice sheet and an updated melt trend for the 1988–2003 period has been calculated. Compared to the original algorithm, the melt zone area increase is eight times higher (from 0.2 to 1.7% year⁻¹). The increase is higher with the improved XPGR technique because rainfall also increased during this period. It is correlated to higher atmospheric temperatures. Finally, the model shows that the total ice sheet runoff is directly proportional to the melt extent surface detected by satellites. These results are important for the understanding of the effect of Greenland melting on the stability of the thermohaline circulation.     

Pre-Melt Energy Budget of an Arctic Snowpack on Landfast First-Year Sea Ice

The pre-melt energy budget of a snowpack on landfast first-year sea ice at a remote site in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago was analyzed. Over a 19-day period, the total heat conducted into the snowpack at the snow–sea-ice interface was the largest single energy transfer to the snowpack, while each of the turbulent heat fluxes removed comparable amounts of energy. The total energy transferred from the snowpack (∑Q?≈??7027?kJ?m^?2) should have reduced its temperature; however, the opposite occurred. The snowpack’s temperature at both the 7 and 13?cm depths increased over the pre-melt period. The total change in internal energy and latent heat of the snowpack (ΔU_snowpack)_, derived from 15-minute changes in the snowpack’s temperature over the pre-melt period, was approximately 672?kJ?m^?2. Closure of the energy budget was not achieved for either the daily or the total pre-melt period. The terms of the energy budget were determined independently; thus, the failure to close the energy budget was the result of the accumulation of errors associated with all the terms. However, for snow on first-year sea ice, the parameterization of the salinity and temperature dependence of the “specific heat” of the basal layer of the snowpack was likely the primary source of error. The snowpack plays a central role in the transfer of energy across the ocean–sea-ice–atmosphere interface, but an adequate method for modelling the evolution of snow on Arctic sea ice including the energy budget, which determines the warming rate and subsequent melt rate of the snow, has yet to be developed.     

唐古拉地区超声雪深传感器SR-50监测研究

利用2004年5月以来超声雪深传感器SR-50在青藏高原唐古拉综合监测场获取的实时积雪资料和相关气象数据,评估了SR-50在青藏高原积雪监测中的性能和作用,并对青藏高原腹地多年冻土区积雪变化特征进行初步分析。结果表明:超声雪深传感器SR-50对不同时间尺度的地表积雪过程均有较好的监测能力。监测数据清晰地显示唐古拉地区地表积雪深度在夜间相对稳定、在日间迅速降低的特点。唐古拉地区平均年积雪日数为82 d,各月均有地表积雪出现,但夏季的地表积雪较少且持续时间很短。该地区地表积雪总体上呈厚度较薄、消融较快、持续时间较短的特点。2005—2008年该地区瞬时最大积雪深度为22 cm,日平均积雪深度小于5 cm日数占总积雪日数的71.58%。     

利用卫星微波观测亮温与云辐射模拟亮温的台风定位分析北大核心

极轨气象卫星S-NPP、MetOp-A和FY-3B上搭载的微波湿度计观测资料可以反映出台风周围水汽和云雨结构。本文使用权重函数峰值在800 hPa附近的微波湿度计通道观测资料和ERA5再分析资料全天空模拟亮温,以飓风Sandy和Isaac为例,对用方位谱台风中心位置定位方法得到的观测和模拟中心位置进行了比较。利用下午星S-NPP搭载的先进技术微波探测仪(Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder,ATMS)和上午星MetOp-A搭载的微波湿度计(Microwave Humidity Sounder,MHS)观测亮温得到的飓风Sandy(Isaac)中心位置与最佳路径平均相差35.8 km(32.9 km),但用ERA5全天空模拟亮温得到的飓风Sandy(Isaac)中心位置与最佳路径平均相差73.3 km(82.1 km)。若按照热带风暴和台风等级来划分,ATMS和MHS观测和模拟亮温得到的台风中心位置与最佳路径的平均距离对热带风暴分别是36.5 km和105.9 km,对台风分别是25.8 km和56.4 km。若用FY-3B搭载的微波湿度计(以MWHS表示)替换ATMS,所得结果类似。ERA5作为全球大气再分析资料的典型代表,用方位谱台风中心位置定位方法得到的台风中心位置误差较大的原因是ERA5再分析资料全天空模拟亮温在台风中的分布结构与观测亮温相差较大,而模拟亮温与冰水路径分布结构极为相似。研究对台风数值预报中的全天空模拟亮温资料同化具有一定的参考意义。     

Assimilation of Feng-Yun-3B Satellite Microwave Humidity Sounder Data over Land

The ECMWF has been assimilating Feng-Yun-3B(FY-3B) satellite microwave humidity sounder(MWHS) data over ocean in an operational forecasting system since 24 September 2014. It is more difficult, however, to assimilate microwave observations over land and sea ice than over the open ocean due to higher uncertainties in land surface temperature, surface emissivity and less effective cloud screening. We compare approaches in which the emissivity is retrieved dynamically from MWHS channel 1 [150 GHz(vertical polarization)] with the use of an evolving emissivity atlas from 89 GHz observations from the MWHS onboard NOAA and EUMETSAT satellites. The assimilation of the additional data over land improves the fit of short-range forecasts to other observations, notably ATMS(Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder) humidity channels, and the forecast impacts are mainly neutral to slightly positive over the first five days. The forecast impacts are better in boreal summer and the Southern Hemisphere. These results suggest that the techniques tested allow for effective assimilation of MWHS/FY-3B data over land.     

Validation of A One-Dimensional Snow-Land Surface Model at the Sleepers River Watershed

A one-dimensional land surface model, based on conservations of heat and water substance inside the soil and snow, is presented. To validate the model, a stand-alone experiment is carried out with five years of meteorological and hydrological observations collected from the NOAA-ARS Cooperative Snow Research Project (1966–1974) at the Sleepers River watershed in Danville, Vermont, U.S.A. The numerical results show that the model is capable of reproducing the observed soil temperature at different depths during the winter as well as a rapid increase of soil temperature after snow melts in the spring. The model also simulates the density, temperature, thickness, and equivalent water depth of snow reasonably well. The numerical results are sensitive to the fresh snow density and the soil properties used in the model, which affect the heat exchange between the snowpack and the soil.     

6月份格陵兰海冰异常对黄河中上游7月份旱涝的影响

通过北极4个区的海水DQ%指数和全国160站7月份降水关系的诊断分析指出，6月份格陵兰海冰异常与黄河中上游7月份旱涝存在着明显的联系，6月份格陵兰海冰少(多)时，黄河中上游7月份易涝（旱）。产生这种联系的物理机制是6月份格陵兰海冰异常影响7月份欧亚大气环流，导致黄河中上游7月份降水产生异常。通过对相关场进行显著性检验，确认了6月份格陵兰海冰异常与黄河中上游7月份旱涝联系在统计上的可靠性。同时发现，有时随机数序列与气象要素场的相关场会达到很高的显著水平，而且这种相关场中的显著相关区的分布并不是杂乱无章的，而是成片分布的。这项工作指出了把对相关场的显著性检验与相关场成因的物理机制分析相结合的必要性。     

Causes of recent changes in western North American snowpack

Monthly snow water equivalent (SWE) station observations and gridded temperature data are used to identify mechanisms by which warming affects the temporal and geographical structure of changes in western North American mountain snowpack. We first exploit interannual variability to demonstrate the sensitivity of snowpack to temperature during the various phases of the snow season. We show that mechanisms whereby temperature affects snowpack emerge in the mid to late portion of the snow season (March through May), but are nearly absent during the earliest phase (February), when temperatures are generally well below freezing. The mid to late snow season is precisely when significant loss of snowpack is seen at nearly all locations over the past few decades, both through decreases in snow accumulation and increases in snowmelt. At locations where April 1st SWE has been increasing over the past few decades, the increase is entirely due to a significant enhancement of accumulation during the earliest phase of the snow season, when the sensitivity analysis indicates that temperature is not expected to affect snowpack. Later in the snow season, these stations exhibit significant snowpack loss comparable to the other stations. Based on this analysis, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that recent snowpack changes in western North America are caused by regional-scale warming. Given predictions of future warming, a further reduction in late season snowpack and advancement in the onset of snowmelt should be expected in the coming decades throughout the region.     

Evaluation of the Community Microwave Emission Model Coupled with the Community Land Model over East Asia

The Community Microwave Emission Model (CMEM) developed by the European Centre for Me-dium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) can provide a link between surface states and satellite observations and simulate the passive microwave brightness temperature of the surface at low frequencies (from 1 GHz to 20 GHz).This study evaluated the performance of the CMEM cou-pled with the Community Land Model (CLM) (CMEM-CLM) using C-band (6.9 GHz) microwave brightness temperatures from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) over East Asia.Preliminary results support the argument that the simulated brightness temperatures of CMEM-CLM from July 2005 to June 2010 are comparable to AMSR-E observational data.CMEM-CLM performed better for vertical polarization,for which the root mean square error was approximately 15 K,compared to over 30 K for horizontal polarization.An evaluation performed over seven sub-regions in China indicated that CMEM-CLM was able to capture the temporal evolution of C-band brightness temperatures well,and the best correlation with AMSR-E appeared over western Northwest China (over 0.9 for vertical polarization).However,larger biases were found over southern North China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.     

Predicting Snow Depth in a Forest–Tundra Landscape using a Conceptual Model Allowing for Snow Redistribution and Constrained by Observations from a Digital Camera

Estimation of snow depth in the forest–tundra landscape remains a challenge because of a lack of reliable and frequent observations on precipitation and snow depth. Snow models forced by gridded meteorological datasets are often the only option available for assessing snow depth at the local scale. Unfortunately, these models generally do not take into account the snow redistribution process between open and forested areas which frequently occurs in the forest–tundra landscape. A simple modification to an existing snow accumulation and melt model is proposed in order to allow for snow redistribution. Along with a technique for taking advantage of snow depth observations obtained from a digital camera, the model is shown to provide accurate predictions of snow depth at the local scale when forced with precipitation data from Environment Canada's Canadian Precipitation Analysis. Results from this study suggest that instrumenting automated weather stations with a digital camera, together with small modifications to an existing model used operationally for snow depth prediction, could result in significant improvements to snow depth prediction and analysis in this environment. Further testing at sites where snow water equivalent of the snowpack is available should, however, be performed to fully validate the method.     

Long-term observations for monitoring of the cryosphere

Variations of the cryosphere over decadal-to-century timescales are assessed by a survey of data on sea ice, snow cover, glaciers and ice sheets, permafrost and lake ice. The recent variations are generally consistent across the different cryospheric variables, especially when placed into the context of variations of temperature and precipitation. The recent warming over northern land areas has been accompanied by a decrease of snow cover, particularly during spring; the retreat of mountain glaciers is, in an aggregate sense, compatible with the observed warming; permafrost extent and lake ice duration show similar variations in areas for which data are available. Corresponding trends are not apparent, however, in data for some regions such as eastern Canada, nor in hemispheric sea ice data, especially for winter. The data also suggest an increase of snowfall over high latitudes, including the Antarctic ice sheet.Estimates of both the climatic and the statistical significance of the recent variations are hampered by data inhomogeneities, the shortness of the records of many variables and the absence of central archives for data on several variables. The potential of monitoring by satellite remote sensing has been realized with several variables (extent of sea ice, snow cover). Other cryospheric variables (snow depth, ice sheet elevation, lake ice, mountain glaciers) may be amenable to routine monitoring by satellites pending advances in instrumentation, modifications of satellite orbit, and further developments in signal detection algorithms. The survey of recent variations leads to recommendations concerning the use of historical data,in situ measurements, and remote sensing applications in the monitoring of the cryosphere.