Aas, Kjetil S.

Berntsen, Terje K.

Boike, Julia

Etzelmüller, Bernd

Kristjansson, Jon Egill

Schuler, Thomas V.

Stordal, Frode

Westermann, Sebastian

English

Electronic Publication Information Center

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 15, EGU2013-7173, 2013EGU General Assembly 2013© Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Observed and simulated surface energy budget at Ny-Ålesund, SvalbardKjetil S. Aas (1), Terje K. Berntsen (1), Julia Boike (2), Bernd Etzelmüller (1), Jon Egill Kristjansson (1),Thomas V. Schuler (1), Frode Stordal (1), and Sebastian Westermann (1)(1) Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Norway, (2) Alfred-Wegener-Institut for Polar and Marine Research,Potsdam, GermanyLocated in the Arctic region, the Svalbard archipelago is projected to experience a significant warming overthe 21st century with potentially large implications for the terrestrial cryosphere. With its large horizontalinhomogeneity, there is a need for high resolution modeling and process studies to quantify the role of the differentprocesses governing the surface energy budget (SEB).Observations and high resolution modeling with a numerical weather prediction model are combined tostudy the annual cycle of the SEB at a permafrost site near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The observations (Westermannet al., 2009) include independent measurements of all components of the SEB (radiation, sensible and latent heatfluxes and ground heat flux) since March 2008, at a temporal resolution of one hour. By closing the SEB, andcovering all seasons for several years, this data set is to our knowledge unique in the Arctic, where observations ofSEB are in general sparse. For our model simulations we use the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF),nested down to a 1 km horizontal resolution, and using high resolution data for topography, land use and seasurface temperature (SST), which could be of significance due to the high horizontal inhomogeneity in this region.Together, these observations and simulations enable detailed studies of the different processes important for theSEB. Especially, we investigate the effect of (i) clouds, which are important for the radiation budget, (ii) SST andsea ice, (iii) turbulent fluxes, and (iv) snow, especially how changes in snow cover during the polar day alters theSEB. In addition to the Ny-Ålesund data set, observations of radiation (four components), temperature, relativehumidity and wind are available from an automatic weather station at Austfonna glacier, Nordaustlandet, whichwill be used for further model validation.The presentation will cover on a one year period, emphasizing the different seasons and their differentcharacteristic processes governing the SEB.

Observed and simulated surface energy budget at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Observed and simulated surface energy budget at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Electronic Publication Information Center