Brief communication: Impact of common ice mask in surface mass balance estimates over the Antarctic ice sheet
Hansen, N.; Simonsen, S.B.; Boberg, F.; Kittel, C.; Orr, A.; Souverijns, N.; Van Wessem, J.M.; Mottram, R. (2022). Brief communication: Impact of common ice mask in surface mass balance estimates over the Antarctic ice sheet. Cryosphere 16(2): 711-718. https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-711-2022
In: The Cryosphere. Copernicus: Göttingen. ISSN 1994-0416; e-ISSN 1994-0424, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Hansen, N.
- Simonsen, S.B.
- Boberg, F.
- Kittel, C., more
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- Orr, A.
- Souverijns, N., more
- Van Wessem, J.M.
- Mottram, R.
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| Abstract |
Regional climate models compute ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB) over a mask that defines the area covered by glacier ice, but ice masks have not been harmonised between models. Intercomparison studies of modelled SMB therefore use a common ice mask. The SMB in areas outside the common ice mask, which are typically coastal and high-precipitation regions, is discarded. Ice mask differences change integrated SMB by between 40.5 and 140.6 Gt yr−1 (1.8 % to 6.0 % of ensemble mean SMB), equivalent to the entire Antarctic mass imbalance. We conclude there is a pressing need for a common ice mask protocol. |
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