TY - JOUR
T1 - Greenland surface mass-balance observations from the ice-sheet ablation area and local glaciers
AU - Machguth, Horst
AU - Thomsen, Henrik
AU - Weidick, Anker
AU - Ahlstrøm, Andreas P.
AU - Abermann, Jakob
AU - Andersen, Morten
AU - Andersen, Signe
AU - Bjørk, Anders Anker
AU - Box, Jason
AU - Braithwaite, Roger
AU - Bøggild, Carl Egede
AU - Citterio, Michele
AU - Clement, Poul
AU - Colgan, William
AU - Fausto, Robert
AU - Gleie, Karin
AU - Gluber, Stefanie
AU - Hasholt, Bent
AU - Hynek, Bernhard
AU - Knudsen, Niels T.
AU - Hillerup Larsen, Signe
AU - Mernild, Sebastian
AU - Oerlemans, Johannes
AU - Oerter, Hans
AU - Olesen, Ole
AU - Smeets, C .J. P. Paul
AU - Steffen, Konrad
AU - Stober, Manfred
AU - Sugiyama, Shin
AU - van As, Dirk
AU - van den Broeke, Michiel
AU - van de Wal, Roderik S.W.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Glacier surface mass-balance measurements on Greenland started more than a century ago, but no compilation exists of the observations from the ablation area of the ice sheet and local glaciers. Such data could be used in the evaluation of modelled surface mass balance, or to document changes in glacier melt independently from model output. Here, we present a comprehensive database of Greenland glacier surface mass-balance observations from the ablation area of the ice sheet and local glaciers. The database spans the 123 a from 1892 to 2015, contains a total of ~3000 measurements from 46 sites, and is openly accessible through the PROMICE web portal (http://www.promice.dk). For each measurement we provide X, Y and Z coordinates, starting and ending dates as well as quality flags. We give sources for each entry and for all metadata. Two thirds of the data were collected from grey literature and unpublished archive documents. Roughly 60% of the measurements were performed by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS, previously GGU). The data cover all regions of Greenland except for the southernmost part of the east coast, but also emphasize the importance of long-term time series of which there are only two exceeding 20 a. We use the data to analyse uncertainties in point measurements of surface mass balance, as well as to estimate surface mass-balance profiles for most regions of Greenland.
AB - Glacier surface mass-balance measurements on Greenland started more than a century ago, but no compilation exists of the observations from the ablation area of the ice sheet and local glaciers. Such data could be used in the evaluation of modelled surface mass balance, or to document changes in glacier melt independently from model output. Here, we present a comprehensive database of Greenland glacier surface mass-balance observations from the ablation area of the ice sheet and local glaciers. The database spans the 123 a from 1892 to 2015, contains a total of ~3000 measurements from 46 sites, and is openly accessible through the PROMICE web portal (http://www.promice.dk). For each measurement we provide X, Y and Z coordinates, starting and ending dates as well as quality flags. We give sources for each entry and for all metadata. Two thirds of the data were collected from grey literature and unpublished archive documents. Roughly 60% of the measurements were performed by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS, previously GGU). The data cover all regions of Greenland except for the southernmost part of the east coast, but also emphasize the importance of long-term time series of which there are only two exceeding 20 a. We use the data to analyse uncertainties in point measurements of surface mass balance, as well as to estimate surface mass-balance profiles for most regions of Greenland.
U2 - 10.1017/jog.2016.75
DO - 10.1017/jog.2016.75
M3 - Journal article
VL - 62
SP - 861
EP - 887
JO - Journal of Glaciology
JF - Journal of Glaciology
SN - 0022-1430
IS - 235
ER -