bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Interannual variations of snowmelt and refreeze timing on southeast-Alaskan icefields, U.S.A.
Authors: Ramage Joan M. , Isacks Bryan L. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractTwice-daily satellite observations from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) indicate melt onset and refreeze on southeast-Alaskan icefields. Melt and refreeze are based on 37 GHz vertically polarized brightness temperatures (Tb) and diurnal-amplitude variations (DAV). Two types of melt regime have different summer characteristics. Onset is characterized by increasing average daily Tb and a switch from low- to high-amplitude DAV. Melt timing, calibrated using Juneau Icefield temperatures, correlates well with nearby stream hydrographs. Some pixels maintain high Tb throughout the melt season and return to low-amplitude DAV after melt onset. Refreeze on these pixels is identified by decrease in Tb and accompanying high-amplitude DAV. Other pixels maintain high DAV throughout the summer, indicating nocturnal refreeze. Fall refreeze is determined by the end of high-amplitude DAV. Interannual variability in melt timing and ablation-season length is high. Melt onset and refreeze timing show a regional tendency toward earlier glacier-melt onset and longer ablation seasons from 1988–98.
A macroscopic approach to glacier dynamics
Authors: Harrison William D. , Raymond Charles F. , Echelmeyer Keith A. , Krimmel Robert M. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractA simple approach to glacier dynamics is explored in which there is postulated to be a relationship between area and volume with three parameters: the time for area to respond to changes in volume, a thickness scale, and an area characterizing the condition of the initial state.This approach gives a good fit to the measurements of cumulative balance and area on South Cascade Glacier from 1970–97; the area time-scale is roughly 8 years, the thickness scale about 123 m, and the 1970 area roughly 4% larger than required for adjustment with volume. Combining this relationship with a version of mass continuity expressed in terms of area and volume produces a theory of glacier area and volume response to climate in which another time constant, the volume time-scale, appears. Area and volume both respond like a damped spring and mass system. The damping of the South Cascade response is approximately critical, and the volume time-scale is roughly 48 years, six times the area time-scale. The critically damped spring and mass analogy reproduces the time dependence predicted by the more complicated traditional theory of Nye.
Rigorous GPS data-processing strategies for glaciological applications
Authors: King Matt 
Published: November 2007

AbstractGlobal positioning system (GPS) data are now routinely used for many glaciological applications. In some common cases, systematic errors are unmodelled at the data-processing stage, although they are often presumed insignificant. In this paper, I investigate these assumptions for three different scenarios: (1) measurements on a moving glacier; (2) measurements on a floating ice shelf; and (3) precise height determination over large elevation ranges, such as for aircraft positioning in lidar/laser altimeter missions. In each case, systematic errors are shown to be present in the coordinate solutions that have a far greater magnitude than the formal error estimates produced by the GPS processing software, under certain conditions. If these coordinate biases go undetected, short- and long-term measurements of horizontal ice velocity or rates of ice-thickness change may be erroneous and the coordinates could not be expected to match rigorously processed data or results from different processing techniques. More rigorous processing strategies are discussed that allow for bias-free parameter estimation.
Revisiting bulk heat transfer on Peyto Glacier, Alberta, Canada, in light of the OG parameterization
Authors: Munro D. Scott 
Published: November 2007

AbstractA scheme for katabatic turbulent heat transfer proposed by Oerlemans and Grisogono (2002), here referred to as the OG parameterization, is compared with bulk heat-transfer estimates on Peyto Glacier, Alberta, Canada. Automatic weather stations (AWSs) provide off-glacier data to drive the parameterization and glacier data for bulk estimates. Micrometeorological datasets are used to assess two schemes that employ the Monin-Obukhov stability parameter, z/L, to modify logarithmic, or neutral, bulk heat-transfer equations to allow for stability. Both schemes fail at >1 m above the surface, where the AWS sensors are located, unless a modified approach is used in which the stability correction is constant for z/L ≥1/3. Then the bulk sensible-heat-flux density falls to ≈0.93 of its neutral estimate at all measurement levels, thus providing a basis for comparison with the parameterization. The results of the comparison are very good, indicating that a one-to-one relationship between bulk and parameterized values can be achieved by optimizing the fit with a background exchange coefficient and, because there is only one off-glacier AWS, using a sinusoidal function to model the diurnal variation of the potential temperature lapse rate.
Influence of tides and tidal current on Mertz Glacier, Antarctica
Authors: Legrésy Benoît , Wendt Anja , Tabacco Ignazio , Rémy Frédérique , Dietrich Reinhard 
Published: November 2007

AbstractMertz Glacier, East Antarctica, is characterized by a 140 km long, 25 km wide floating ice tongue. In this paper, we combine a large number of remotely sensed datasets, including in situ global positioning system measurements, satellite radar altimetry, airborne radio-echo sounding and satellite synthetic aperture radar imagery and interferometry. These various datasets allow us to study the interaction of the ice tongue with the tides and currents. However, the inverse barometer effect needs to be applied to sea-level variations affecting the tongue. We find that the tide-induced currents exert a small lateral pressure on the tongue which, when integrated over the large surface of the tongue, induce a flexure of up to 2 m amplitude per day. Simple elastic modelling of the flexure confirms the observations and helps validate the boundary conditions necessary to explain different eastward and westward tongue deflections. In addition, the along-flow velocity of the tongue does vary daily from 1.9 to 6.8 md-1 depending on the tidal current. When the current pushes the tongue toward the eastern boundary of the fjord, the tongue is retarded by the drag and the velocity decreases. The accumulated stress is released, allowing the tongue to flow very rapidly when the current pushes the tongue westward. These forcing and boundary conditions on the floating ice flow are important and must be taken into account when studying glacier discharge and calving.
Dating the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core by manual and computer interpretation of annual layering
Authors: Taylor Kendrick C. , Alley Richard B. , Meese Debra A. , Spencer Matthew K. , Brook Ed J. , Dunbar Nelia W. , Finkel Robert C. , Gow Anthony J. , Kurbatov Andrei V. , Lamorey Gregg W. , Mayewski Paul A. , Meyerson Eric A. , Nishiizumi Kunihiko , Zielinski Gregory A. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractThe Holocene portion of the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core was dated by interpreting the electrical, visual and chemical properties of the core. The data were interpreted manually and with a computer algorithm. The algorithm interpretation was adjusted to be consistent with atmospheric methane stratigraphic ties to the GISP2 (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2) ice core, 10Be stratigraphic ties to the dendrochronology 14 C record and the dated volcanic stratigraphy. The algorithm interpretation is more consistent and better quantified than the tedious and subjective manual interpretation.
Imaging of firn isochrones across an Antarctic ice rise and implications for patterns of snow accumulation rate
Authors: Vaughan David G. , Anderson Philip S. , King John C. , Mann Graham W. , Mobbs Stephen D. , Ladkin Russell S. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractIt has been an underlying assumption in many studies that near-surface layers imaged by ground-penetrating radar (GPR) can be interpreted as depositional markers or isochrones. It has been shown that GPR layers can be approximately reproduced from the measured electrical properties of ice, but these material layers are generally narrower and more closely spaced than can be resolved by typical GPR systems operating in the range 50−400 MHz. Thus GPR layers should be interpreted as interference patterns produced from closely spaced and potentially discontinuous material layers, and should not be assumed to be interpretable as precise markers of isochrones. We present 100 MHz GPR data from Lyddan Ice Rise, Antarctica, in which near-surface (<50 m deep) layers are clearly imaged. The growth of the undulations in these layers with depth is approximately linear, implying that, rather than resulting from a pattern of vertical strain rate, they do correspond to some pattern of snowfall variation. Furthermore, comparison of the GPR layers with snow-stake measurements suggests that around 80% of the rms variability in mean annual accumulation is present in the GPR layers. The observations suggest that, at least in this case, the GPR layers do approximate isochrones, and that patterns of snow accumulation over Lyddan Ice Rise are dominated by extremely persistent spatial variations with only a small residual spatial variability. If this condition is shown to be widely applicable it may reduce the period required for measurements of surface elevation change to be taken as significant indications of mass imbalance.
The principle of minimum entropy production and snow structure
Authors: Bartelt Perry , Buser Othmar 
Published: November 2007

AbstractAn essential problem in snow science is to predict the changing form of ice grains within a snow layer. Present theories are based on the idea that form changes are driven by mass diffusion induced by temperature gradients within the snow cover. This leads to the well-established theory of isothermal- and temperature-gradient metamorphism. Although diffusion theory treats mass transfer, it does not treat the influence of this mass transfer on the form — the curvature radius of the grains and bonds — directly. Empirical relations, based on observations, are additionally required to predict flat or rounded surfaces. In the following, we postulate that metamorphism, the change of ice surface curvature and size, is a process of thermodynamic optimization in which entropy production is minimized. That is, there exists an optimal surface curvature of the ice grains for a given thermodynamic state at which entropy production is stationary. This state is defined by differences in ice and air temperature and vapor pressure across the interfacial boundary layer. The optimal form corresponds to the state of least wasted work, the state of minimum entropy production. We show that temperature gradients produce a thermal non-equilibrium between the ice and air such that, depending on the temperature, flat surfaces are required to mimimize entropy production. When the temperatures of the ice and air are equal, larger curvature radii are found at low temperatures than at high temperatures. Thus, what is known as isothermal metamorphism corresponds to minimum entropy production at equilibrium temperatures, and so-called temperature-gradient metamorphism corresponds to minimum entropy production at none-quilibrium temperatures. The theory is in good agreement with general observations of crystal form development in dry seasonal alpine snow.
Experiments on ice spikes and a simple growth model
Authors: Hill Lesley , Lozowski Edward , Sampson Russell D. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractIce-spike observations in nature have sparked much interest in the scientific and non-scientific communities alike, yet most research performed thus far has been largely qualitative. We have conducted a quantitative, systematic laboratory investigation in order to assess theories explaining ice-spike growth and to determine the conditions conducive to it. We observed ice-spike growth using time-lapse digital photography, using two water types in two different containers. We observed that ice spikes occurred much more frequently in distilled water than in tap water. Digital images were analyzed to determine the growth rate of the ice spikes. Water temperature was recorded throughout the freezing process, and the cooling rate was used to estimate a bulk heat transfer coefficient. Finally, a simple model, based on mass conservation, was derived and was found to give useful predictions of ice-spike growth rate.
A field and numerical study of the evolution of sea-ice thickness in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, 1998-99
Authors: Tin Tina , Timmermann Ralph , Jeffries Martin O. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractDuring two cruises in 1998 and 1999, we examined drift and ridging characteristics of sea ice in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Mean ice thickness in the western Ross Sea in autumn was 0.5 m, while higher level-ice thicknesses, greater areal coverages of ridges and higher sails were found in the central and eastern Ross Sea in summer. Near the continent, ice drifted westward near the coast and turned eastward further north. We use a regional sea-ice−mixed-layer−pycnocline model to initiate backward trajectories at the time and location of field observations and examine the dynamic and thermodynamic processes that determine ice thickness along these trajectories. Model results agree with previously published field data to indicate that thermodynamic and dynamic thickening and snow-ice formation each contribute significantly to the ice mass of the summer ice field in the central and eastern Ross Sea. For first-year ice in the western Ross Sea, model results and field data both indicate that thermodynamic thickening is the dominant process that determines ice thickness, with dynamic thickening also contributing 20% to the net ice-thickening rate. However, model results fail to reproduce the prevalence of snow- ice formation that was seen in field data.
An investigation of laboratory-grown ice spikes
Authors: Libbrecht Kenneth G. , Lui Kevin 
Published: November 2007

AbstractWe have investigated the formation of 10-50 mm long ice spikes that sometimes appear on the free surface of water when it solidifies. By freezing water under different conditions, we measured the probability of ice-spike formation as a function of: (1) the air temperature in the freezing chamber, (2) air motion in the freezing chamber (which promotes evaporative cooling), (3) the quantity of dissolved salts in the water, and (4) the size, shape and composing material of the freezing vessel. We found that the probability of ice-spike formation is greatest when the air temperature is near -7°C, the water is pure and the air in the freezing chamber is moving. Even small quantities of dissolved solids greatly reduce the probability of ice-spike formation. Under optimal conditions, approximately half the ice cubes in an ordinary ice-cube tray will form ice spikes. Guided by these observations, we have examined the Bally-Dorsey model for the formation of ice spikes. In this model, the density change during solidification forces super cooled water up through a hollow ice tube, where it freezes around the rim to lengthen the tube. We propose that any dissolved solids in the water will tend to concentrate at the tip of a growing ice spike and inhibit its growth. This can qualitatively explain the observation that ice spikes do not readily form using water containing even small quantities of dissolved solids.
Recent variations in surface mass balance of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet
Authors: Morris Elizabeth M. , Mulvaney Robert 
Published: November 2007

AbstractOver the period 1972–98 the height of the snow surface at eight Antarctic sites in Palmer Land and on Alexander Island has been measured with respect to fixed points on local nunataks. From these data an empirical relation between height changes over a given period and three key variables has been derived. These variables are (i) the local mean annual surface air temperature, (ii) a regional estimate of energy available for melt over the period (derived from the nearby Rothera air-temperature record) and (iii) a regional estimate of accumulation over the period (derived from the nearby Gomez Nunatak ice-core accumulation record). Using this relation, the contribution of the Antarctic Peninsula to sea-level rise for warming from climatic conditions (averaged over the last 30 years) is estimated to be −0.006 ± 0.002 mm a−1 K−1. If recent warm conditions persist, however, and meltwater can run off to the sea, the contribution to sea-level rise from ablation is calculated to be 0.07 ± 0.02 mm a−1 K−1.
Towards a conceptual approach to predetermining long-return-period avalanche run-out distances
Authors: Meunier Maurice , Ancey Christophe 
Published: November 2007

AbstractInvestigating snow avalanches using a purely statistical approach raises several issues. First, even in the heavily populated areas of the Alps, there are few data on avalanche motion or extension. Second, most of the field data are related to the point of furthest reach in the avalanche path (run-out distance or altitude). As data of this kind are tightly dependent on the avalanche path profile, it is a priori not permissible to extrapolate the cumulative distribution function fitted to these data without severe restrictions or further assumptions. Using deterministic models is also problematic, as these are not really physically based models. For instance, they do not include all the phenomena occurring in the avalanche movement, and the rheological behaviour of the snow is not known. Consequently, it is not easy to predetermine extreme-event extensions. Here, in order to overcome this problem, we propose to use a conceptual approach. First, using an avalanche-dynamics numerical model, we fitted the model parameters (friction coefficients and the volume of snow involved in the avalanches) to the field data. Then, using these parameters as random variables, we adjusted appropriate statistical distributions. The last steps involved simulating a large number of (fictitious) avalanches using the Monte Carlo approach. Thus, the cumulative distribution function of the run-out distance can be computed over a much broader range than was initially possible with the historical data. In this paper, we develop the proposed method through a complete case study, comparing two different models.
Subcritical crack propagation as a mechanism of crevasse formation and iceberg calving
Authors: Weiss Jérôme 
Published: November 2007

AbstractRecent investigations of crevassing on alpine glaciers and ice shelves have been based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). However, LEFM is unable to explain some aspects of crevasse formation such as the initiation of crevasse propagation from crystal-scale (mm) microcracks, the slow propagation of large fractures in ice shelves, and the acceleration of crevasse opening before breaking of the ice terminus. Here another mechanism to account for these observations is proposed: subcritical crevassing. Subcritical crack growth, documented in many materials though not yet explored in ice, is characterized by a crack velocity that scales as a power of the tensile stress intensity factor, but is much less than that associated with critical crack propagation. This mechanism allows crevasse propagation from mm-scale microcracks at velocities much lower than body wave speeds, and explains crevasse-opening accelerations in a natural way. Subcritical crevassing is theoretically explored for several simplified situations but is limited by a lack of available data on crevasse evolution.
Internal accumulation in firn and its significance for the mass balance of Storglaciären, Sweden
Authors: Schneider Thomas , Jansson Peter 
Published: November 2007

AbstractThe discussion on global change has led to increased interest in glacier mass balance since glaciers can be used as climatic indicators. To meet the need for high-quality mass-balance data requires critical examination of traditional mass-balance methods and their possible errors. One issue regarding mass-balance measurements that has received little attention is internal accumulation. Our study shows that internal accumulation in the firn layer of Storglaciären, Sweden, significantly affects the mass balance of the glacier. This occurs because the winter cold wave penetrates below the previous year’s summer surface and into underlying firn. We estimated internal accumulation from measurements of temperature and water content in firn. The depth of the 0°C isotherm correlated with snow depth and air temperature, so that low snow depth and low air temperature separately cause a deeper 0°C isotherm. We determined irreducible gravimetric water content in firn to 2–3%, which corresponds to an irreducible water saturation of 6–8%. Our value for firn is relatively high compared with that for snow, probably due to trapped water in isolated firn pores. Refreezing of percolating meltwater in spring accounted for ~30% of annual internal accumulation. The remaining 70% was due to re-freezing of retained capillary water in firn pores during winter. Disregarding internal accumulation would lead to underestimation of annual net mass balance by 0.04–0.06 m w.e., corresponding to 3–5% of annual accumulation of the entire glacier in an average year. Hence, internal accumulation potentially becomes a source for systematic error if not accounted in mass-balance measurements.
Two methods for firn-area and mass-balance monitoring of Svalbard glaciers with SAR satellite images
Authors: König Max , Winther Jan-Gunnar , Kohler Jack , König Florian 
Published: November 2007

AbstractThis paper presents two methods for glacier monitoring on Svalbard using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images. Both methods were developed on glaciers in the Kongsfjorden area. The first method monitors the firn area extent and the firn line over time by thresholding and filtering the SAR image. Manual detection of the threshold is preferable, but using a constant threshold for all images also gives adequate results. A retreat of the firn-line position is visible, especially on Kongsvegen, corresponding to consecutive years of negative mass balance. The second method applies a k-means classification to three clusters on the glacier surface. The areal extent of the resulting class on the upper part of the glacier correlates remarkably well with the independently measured mass balance of Kongsvegen, having a correlation coefficient of around 0.89 for the various glaciers. This is because the snow from the accumulation area influences the k-means classification. Thus, on glaciers where mass-balance values are available, new mass-balance values can be predicted solely from SAR images. For glaciers where no mass balance is available, the area change cannot be calibrated to absolute mass-balance values, but relative changes can be predicted.