We present a new parameterisation that relates surface mass balance (SMB: the sum of surface accumulation and surface ablation) to changes in surface elevation of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) for the MAR (Modèle Atmosphérique Régional: Fettweis, 2007) regional climate model. The motivation is to dynamically adjust SMB as the GrIS evolves, allowing us to force ice sheet models with SMB simulated by MAR while incorporating the SMB-elevation feedback, without the substantial technical challenges of coupling ice sheet and climate models. This also allows us to assess the effect of elevation feedback uncertainty on the GrIS contribution to sea level, using multiple global climate and ice sheet models, without the need for additional, expensive MAR simulations.
Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, United Kingdom; Department of Geography, University of Liege, Laboratory of Climatology, Allée du 6 Août, 2, 4000 Liège, Belgium; Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, UJF, CNRS, 54, rue Molière, 38402 Saint-Martin-d'Hères Cedex, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France; Earth System Sciences and Departement Geografie, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; NCAS-Climate, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom; Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom; Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, T3MSB216, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States; Department of Scientific Computing, Florida State University, 400 Dirac Science Library, Tallahassee, FL 32306, United States
Recommended Citation:
Edwards T,L,, Fettweis X,et al. Probabilistic parameterisation of the surface mass balance-elevation feedback in regional climate model simulations of the Greenland ice sheet[J]. Cryosphere,2014-01-01,8(1)