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FS 3.132

Glacier-atmosphere coupling

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Full Title
FS 3.132: Glacier-atmosphere coupling in mountain environments
Scheduled
TBA
Location
TBA
Convener
Emily Collier
Co-Conveners
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Assigned to Synthesis Workshop
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Thematic Focus
Atmosphere, Cryo- & Hydrosphere, Multi-scale Modeling
Keywords
glaciers, modelling, measurements, feedbacks, micrometeorological conditions

Description

The surface mass and energy balance of mountain glaciers is typically simulated offline, however this approach precludes the representation of feedbacks and rapid adjustments from changing glacier surface conditions on the atmosphere. As the widespread retreat and thinning of mountain glaciers continues, deglaciation and changes in debris cover will exert an important but as-of-yet poorly quantified influence. A robust understanding of the key processes and importance of glacier-atmosphere exchanges is needed for accurate projections of transient glacier response to future climate change. We invite contributions on improved process understanding of glacier-atmosphere coupling in mountain environments from both modelling and observational approaches, including improvements in land surface models, the development of coupled models, multi-scale measurements and model evaluation strategies. We will bring together the perspectives of glaciologists, meteorologists and hydrologists to identify the needs of end-users and discuss the knowledge gaps and challenges in this research area.

Submitted Abstracts

ID: 3.11795

Exploring Scale Interactions and Feedback Mechanisms in Glacier-Atmosphere Dynamics in Mountain Regions: Insights from High-Resolution Simulations

Tobias Sauter
Georgi, Alexander

Abstract/Description

Mountain glaciers are vital components of the global climate system, playing a crucial role in regional hydrology, energy balance, and atmospheric dynamics. These systems are highly sensitive to climate change, and small-scale processes, such as localized thermodynamic adjustments, can trigger rapid feedback mechanisms that significantly alter large-scale atmospheric conditions. Observing and directly interpreting these adjustments is challenging due to nonlinear and often obscured cause-and-effect relationships mediated by intermediary steps. This complexity limits the predictability of meteorological and cryospheric phenomena in mountainous regions. Addressing these challenges requires a holistic analysis approach, without relying on assumptions of linearity or simple correlations. To overcome these obstacles, we employ high-resolution numerical atmospheric simulations to study interactions between glacier microclimates and the free atmosphere, as well as the feedback effects that emerge across scales. Using transfer entropy, we uncover the causal relationships driving these feedbacks, identify directional influences between mass and energy fluxes, and analyze how localized processes propagate across micro-, meso-, and synoptic scales. For example, our analysis reveals how changing glacier geometries affect the microclimates and regional energy balances, driving mesoscale atmospheric circulation patterns. This presentation highlights key insights from these simulations, particularly on the role of glacier-atmosphere interactions in shaping elevation-dependent warming and energy flux dynamics.

ID: 3.12022

High-Resolution Simulations of Atmosphere-Cryosphere Interactions on Alpine Glaciers Using HICARsnow

Maximilian Sesselmann
Reynolds, Dylan; Asemann, Patricia; Haugeneder, Michael; Mott-Grünewald, Rebecca

Abstract/Description

Alpine glaciers play a critical role in year-round water resource management, influencing flooding events, drinking water resources, and base-load capable green energy production. Their rapid melting contributes to global sea-level rise and is an important marker of ongoing climate change. For precise predictions of glacier responses to evolving climatic conditions, it is imperative to have a detailed description of the glacier boundary layer and understand the intricate interplay between micro-to-synoptic scale atmospheric processes. This comprehensive understanding allows for more accurate modeling of glacier behavior under changing climatic scenarios. However, simulating these multiscale atmospheric processes with traditional numerical models demands significant computational resources, leading to limitations in spatial resolution, domain size, and runtime, neglecting crucial small-scale atmospheric processes. This study aims to investigate the thermal wind driven glacier microclimate and its impact on the glacier’s surface energy balance by utilizing the High-Resolution Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research (HICAR) model forced with COSMO1 data. HICAR has proven effective in downscaling conventional numerical models, forcing data to hectometer resolutions, and resolving orographically induced effects on the atmospheric boundary layer. HICARsnow has been further enhanced by coupling the Factorial Snow Model 2 oshd variant (FSM2trans), incorporating modules for snow redistribution. The high efficiency of the model facilitates the investigation of microclimate evolution in the time frame of entire seasons. It also allows for a significant increase in vertical and horizontal resolution. With this, HICARsnow now resolves small-scale processes that are essential to the glacier microclimate, as e.g. the katabatic glacier winds. By calculating seasonal snow dynamics, we gain insights into the intricate interplay between the glacier’s spatially and temporally varying surface characteristics, such as surface roughness and albedo, and the processes within the near-surface boundary layer. This analysis provides a deeper understanding of how these factors influence the dynamics of snow accumulation and glacier melt. Simulations are conducted for two alpine glaciers, Hintereisferner and Silvretta glacier, sites of various experimental studies on glacier microclimate, including HEFEX I and II. Experimental data are employed to validate the simulation results.

ID: 3.12324

Understanding the Energy Balance of Vertical Ice Cliffs

Marie Schroeder
Prinz, Rainer; Abermann, Jakob; Steiner, Jakob; Stiperski, Ivana; Winkler, Michael

Abstract/Description

Land-terminating ice cliffs are rare but significant features of glacier surfaces, where atmosphere-cryosphere interactions are intensified by the cliffs’ vertical structure. While traditional glacier mass balance models often assume a relatively uniform, sloped surface, ice cliffs present distinct wind and radiative conditions that challenge this assumption. Due to their different exposure to radiative fluxes and the modulation of turbulent heat fluxes, ice cliffs can contribute disproportionately to glacier ablation, yet their representation in mass balance models remains limited.
To improve process-based understanding of glacier-atmosphere coupling at ice cliffs, we analyze turbulence and microclimate data from two contrasting sites: northern Greenland and Kilimanjaro. By integrating these insights into an energy balance framework, we aim to understand the representation of turbulent fluxes and their impact on ice cliff melt. The COSIPY mass balance model is applied to both the vertical ice cliff and the adjacent flat glacier surface, incorporating adaptations for the unique challenges of a steep ice wall. This approach enables an assessment of the differences in ablation drivers between the two regimes. This work advances our ability to model ice cliff mass balance by improving the parameterization of energy exchange processes. A better understanding of these processes is crucial for projecting the transient response of glaciers to climate change and refining energy balance models to account for complex surface geometries.

ID: 3.12394

Darkening Ice in Central Asia? Assessing Bare-Ice Albedo Variability and Its Impact on Glacier Melt for Abramov and Golubin Glaciers

Anouk Volery
NAEGELI, Kathrin; Barandun, Martina

Abstract/Description

Glacier bare-ice is increasingly exposed to higher temperatures and for longer periods of time – leading to a growing importance of bare-ice albedo in the surface energy budget of glaciers. However, the role of bare-ice albedo variability in controlling melt rates remains poorly understood. This study addresses this gap by analyzing the sub-seasonal and inter-annual variability of bare-ice albedo on Abramov and Golubin glaciers in Kyrgyzstan between 1999 and 2022. Using Landsat surface reflectance data, we derived albedo products, investigated their relationship with air temperature, and explored their implications for glacier melt. Our results reveal distinct albedo-mass balance relationships between the two glaciers, driven by different sensitivities to elevation-dependent refreezing processes. Both glaciers exhibit a sub-seasonal albedo cycle linked to air temperature, but elevation-dependent refreezing events appear to play a key role in maintaining high albedo and limiting melt on Abramov. This results in a significant correlation between bare-ice albedo and mass balance for Abramov but not for Golubin. Bare-ice albedo decreased over the tongue of Abramov Glacier in July and August between 1999 and 2017, whereas no such trend was observed for Golubin Glacier – likely due to changes of the elevation-dependent temperature gradient, which influences refreezing and melt processes differently across altitudes. Rising temperatures are thus expected to lead to darker bare ice and amplified feedback melt cycles, especially at high-elevation and radiation dominated glaciers where refreezing and surface weathering crust formations are common. Our results highlight the urgent need to investigate albedo-driven variations in surface mass balance and to incorporate bare-ice albedo variability into glaciological models, enhancing the accuracy of projections for glacier response to intensifying climate change.

ID: 3.12691

Combining glaciological field surveys and high-resolution regional climate modelling to assess variability in accumulation and melt on glaciers of the Pamir mountains

Xavier Faïn
María, Santolaria-Otín; Charles, Amory; Martin, Ménégoz; Fanny, Brun; Christopher, Mayer; Astrid, Lambrecht; Patrick, Wagnon

Abstract/Description

In the Pamir Mountains exist some of the largest glaciers in the whole High Mountain Asia, covering extensive areas at high elevations. Recent glacier mass balance conditions in this region are considerably less negative than in most other parts of the world, which is widely known as the “Pamir-Karakoram anomaly”. However, it is particularly challenging to estimate long-term climate trends in the Pamir area, because of both the scarcity of observational data and the lack of performances of atmospheric models over glacierized areas of complex topography. To address these challenges, the regional climate model MAR has been used to generate a high-resolution atmospheric reanalysis covering the last decades for the Pamir mountains. The model is driven at its upper and lateral boundaries by ERA5 reanalyses, and is calibrated and validated using both local observations and remote sensing. Specifically, a recent field campaign has gathered new meteorological and glaciological data from various high-altitude sites on the Fedchenko Glacier. These efforts aim to enhance our understanding of glacier mass balance dynamics in the Pamir mountains, contributing valuable insights given the region’s unique climatic conditions and terrain challenges.

ID: 3.13342

First insights from the second HinterEisFerner EXperiment: advancing our understanding of the glacier microclimate in the valley context

Rainer Prinz
Nicholson, Lindsey; Stiperski, Ivana; Nitti, Giordano; Sauter, Tobias; Shaw, Thomas E.; Sicart, Jean-Emmanuel

Abstract/Description

As part of the activities of the TEAMx sub working group on glaciers, the second iteration of the HinterEisFerner EXperiment (HEFEX II) was carried out on Hintereisferner during the summer of 2023. The three week campaign successfully operated multi-level 3D sonic anemometers across ten on-glacier weather stations, alongside low frequency weather sensors that were also operating on an additional nine weather stations distributed along the glacier centerline, yielding unprecedented observations of the glacier boundary layer.
Here we present first insights on how these observations deepen our understanding of the glacier boundary layer and its connection to the wider valley atmosphere. We describe the spatio-temporal variation of the glacier microclimatic properties and its relation to the katabatic wind. The findings facilitate accurate extrapolation of glacier surface energy balance for distributed glacier melt modelling and provide validation data for high resolution atmospheric modelling of the glaciated valley atmosphere.

FS 3.130: Andean Climate Change: Observation, Research & Discovery

FS 3.133: Climate change and tourism – Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation

#IMC: September 14 - 18 2025

FS 3.132

Glacier-atmosphere coupling

Details

Full Title

Scheduled

Location

Convener

Co-Conveners

Assigned to Synthesis Workshop

Thematic Focus

Keywords

Description

Submitted Abstracts

Abstract/Description

Abstract/Description

Abstract/Description

Abstract/Description

Abstract/Description

Abstract/Description

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