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 Two thirds of the data were collected from grey literature and unpublished archive documents.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 -