Determining the Impact of Precipitation Biases on the Surface Mass Balance Over Greenland

Currently, there is a lack of ground-based observational data particularly at high latitudes, forcing us to rely on satellite observations and reanalysis products to estimate precipitation in these regions. Recent research suggests that satellite derived precipitation estimates can vary greatly globally and regionally, however, at high latitudes, and in particular over Greenland, the spread and uncertainty in precipitation datasets is relatively unknown. Because accurate estimates of precipitation are critical towards understanding the behavior and response of ice sheets in a warming climate, we investigate multiple precipitation datasets in the form of reanalysis products, observational datasets, and merged observational and satellite derived estimates of precipitation over a 30-year period from 1979-2009. Using these precipitation datasets, accumulation and surface melt are estimated using a Positive Degree Day (PDD) model within the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). The results presented will quantify the spatial and temporal variability in these datasets across Greenland and its associated drainage basins, and highlight how these biases in precipitation datasets affect the simulated mass change across Greenland during this interval.