Variability in the surface temperature and melt extent of the Greenland ice sheet from MODIS
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2013-02-12
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Hall, D. K., Comiso, J. C., DiGirolamo, N. E., Shuman, C. A., Box, J. E., and Koenig, L. S. (2013), Variability in the surface temperature and melt extent of the Greenland ice sheet from MODIS, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 2114– 2120, doi:10.1002/grl.50240.
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Subjects
Abstract
Satellite-derived moderate-resolution imaging spectro-radiometer (MODIS) ice-surface temperature (IST) of the
Greenland ice sheet shows a positive trend and two major
melt events from 2000 to present. IST increased by
~0.55 ± 0.44°C/decade, with the greatest increase
(~0.95 ± 0.44°C/decade) found in northwestern Greenland
where coastal temperatures and mass loss are also increasing
and outlet glaciers are accelerating. IST shows the highest
rates of increase during summer (~1.35 ± 0.47°C/decade)
and winter (~1.30 ± 1.53°C/decade), followed by spring
(~0.60 ± 0.98°C/decade). In contrast, a decrease in IST
was found in the autumn (~-1.49 ± 1.20°C/decade). The
IST trends in this work are not statistically significant with
the exception of the trend in northwestern Greenland.
Major surface melt (covering 80% or more of the ice
sheet) occurred during the 2002 and 2012 melt seasons
where clear-sky measurements show a maximum melt of
~87% and ~95% of the ice sheet surface, respectively. In
2002, most of the extraordinary melt was ephemeral,
whereas in 2012 the ice sheet not only experienced more
total melt, but melt was more persistent, and the 2012
summer was the warmest in the MODIS record
(-6.38 ± 3.98°C). Our data show that major melt events
may not be particularly rare during the present period of
ice sheet warming. Citation: Hall, D. K., J. C. Comiso, N. E.
DiGirolamo, C. A. Shuman, J. E. Box, and L. S. Koenig (2013),
Variability in the surface temperature and melt extent of the
Greenland ice sheet from MODIS, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40,
2114–2120, doi:10.1002/grl.50240.