A meteorological experiment in the melting zone of the Greenland ice sheet

Journal Article · Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1993)074<0355:AMEITM>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:6601196

Oerlemans, J ^[1]; Vugts, H F ^[2]

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1. Utrecht Univ. (Netherlands)
2. Free Univ. of Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Preliminary results are described from a glaciometeorological experiment carried out in the margin (melting zone) of the Greenland ice sheet in the summers of 1990 and 1991. This work was initiated within the framework of a Dutch research program on land ice and sea level change. Seven meteostations were operated along a transect running from the tundra well onto the ice sheet. At the ice edge, humidity, temperature, and wind profiles were obtained with a tethered balloon. On the ice sheet, 90 km from the edge, a boundary-layer research unit, including a sound detecting and ranging system (SODAR) and a radio acoustic sounding system (RASS), was established. Although focusing on the relation between surface energy balance, glacier mass balance, and ice flow, the experiment has also delivered a unique dataset on the dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer around the warm tundra-cold ice sheet transition. Unexpected behavior was found for the surface albedo during the melt season. Lowest values are not found close to the ice edge, which is usual for glaciers, but higher on the ice sheet. Meltwater accumulation due to inefficient surface drainage was found to be the cause for this. The wind regime is dominated by katabatic flow from the ice sheet. The katabatic layer is typically 100-200 m thick. Close to the ice edge, the flow exhibits a very regular daily rhythm, with maximum wind speed in the afternoon. Farther on the ice sheet, the regime changes, and wind speed reaches maximum values in late night/early morning.

• OSTI ID: 6601196
• Journal Information: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; (United States), Vol. 74:3; ISSN 0003-0007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
17 WIND ENERGY
ENERGY BALANCE
ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENTS
GLACIERS
MELTING
GREENLAND
METEOROLOGY
WIND
ALBEDO
DYNAMICS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HUMIDITY
ICE
MASS BALANCE
SURFACE ENERGY
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
TUNDRA
DATA
ENERGY
FREE ENERGY
INFORMATION
MECHANICS
NUMERICAL DATA
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
540110*
540210 - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)
580000 - Geosciences
170100 - Wind Energy- Resources &amp; Availability (Climatology)