Updated 2000-09-25
The aim of the project is to obtain more insight in the response of the Greenland
ice sheet to climatic change. For this purpose we will link our surface energy-balance model to an atmospheric model, so that the model can be forced by variables characterizing the atmosphere outside the thermal influence of the ice sheet itself. The modelling is supported by the mass-balance and meteorological data that we collect along a transect in West Greenland (the Kangerlussuaq-transect or K-transect). The albedo of the ice sheet is studied by means of satellite data and measurements obtained from a helicopter.
Research activities
- develop numerical models of the surface energy balance and the boundary layer above the ice
sheet
- perform annual measurements of the mass balance and ice velocity along the K-transect
- maintain two automatic weather stations along the K-transect
- study the surface albedo by means of remote-sensing images
- improve methods to retrieve the surface albedo from satellite data by means of measurements
obtained from a helicopter
This is not a National Implementation Plan (NIP) project
Time frame
- Status
- Completed
- Project time span
- 1997 - 2000
- Data collection
- not specified
- Data processing
- not specified
- Data reporting
- not specified
Geography
- Regions studied
- Climate change effects
- Other areas
- West Greenland (Kangerlussuaq-transect)
- Stations or areas where observations are made
s10 67°00'00", 47°00’02"
s 4 67°05'48", 50°10'18"
6 stations in between
coordinate notation: DMS
Data availability
- Are data archived or planned to be archived at an AMAP Thematic Data Centre?
- no
- References to key publications (or planned publications) and data reports
- Van de Wal R.S.W., and J. Oerlemans (1997): Modelling the short-term response of the
Greenland ice sheet to global warming. Climate Dynamics, 13, 733-744.
Denby, B.: Second Order Modelling of Turbulence in Katabatic Flows. Submitted to Boundary-Layer Meteorology.
Van de Wal R.S.W., M. Wild and J. de Wolde (1997): The role of precipitation in modelling the response of the Greenland ice sheet to global warming over the next hundred years. IGS proceedings The Hague 1996 Conference on climatology, ed. L. Nkemdirim, 1-12.
Van den Broeke, M. R., (1997): A bulk model of the atmospheric boundary layer for inclusion in mass balance models of the Greenland ice sheet, Z. Gletscherkd. Glazialgeol., 33 (1), 73-94.
Greuell, W. and W.H. Knap, (199x): Remote sensing of the albedo and mass-balance related features of the Greenland ice sheet. Submitted to the Journal of Glaciology.
Van de Wal R.S.W. (199x): Mechanisms of glaciation and deglaciation of the Greenland ice sheet. Climate Dynamics. Submitted
Van de Wal R.S.W., M. Wild and J.R. de Wolde (199x): The effect of changing precipitation in modelling the volume of the Greenland ice sheet to global warming over the next hundred years. Climate Dynamics. Submitted
- Samples/specimens archived in specimen banks?
- Yes
- Specimen banking information
Specimens/samples will be available to other projects and/or international programmes
Methods & Procedures
Not specified
Additional Information
- Is this a bi- AND multi-lateral project (i.e. a project involving cooperation between different countries)?
- Yes