Greenland-wide Glacier Response to Runoff and Retreat: Evaluating Outlet Glacier Changes on Monthly to Multi-year Scales
Abstract
We use our newly derived high-resolution times series of outlet glacier discharge (D) for all large Greenland glaciers, produced by combining a suite of remotely sensed observational ice thickness and velocity data with statistical model estimates, to (1) resolve monthly and inter-annual patterns of variability, and (2) quantify the response of D to changes in glacier front position and meltwater runoff obtained from the RACMO2.3v2 surface mass balance model. We find that glacier retreat, which is widespread over the 2000-2017 study period, is closely related to multi-year secular trends in D. The impact of runoff, however, is likely confined to the summer months when early runoff coincides to a near-ubiquitous period of seasonal acceleration in D. We also describe how these relationships to runoff and front position vary spatially, considering environmental and topographic differences across various regions of the ice sheet. This work assesses the relative impacts of runoff and retreat on D over a range of temporal scales, helping to understand how we can use observed patterns of variability to deduce glacier stability and future ice sheet mass balance.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.C14A..03K
- Keywords:
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- 0758 Remote sensing;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0762 Mass balance;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0774 Dynamics;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0776 Glaciology;
- CRYOSPHERE