Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-411
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-411
11 Dec 2023
 | 11 Dec 2023
Status: this preprint has been withdrawn by the authors.

A Frontal Ablation Dataset for 49 Tidewater Glaciers in Greenland

Dominik Fahrner, Donald Slater, Aman KC, Claudia Cenedese, David A. Sutherland, Ellyn Enderlin, Femke de Jong, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Michael Wood, Peter Nienow, Sophie Nowicki, and Till Wagner

Abstract. Frontal ablation at tidewater glaciers, which comprises iceberg calving, submarine and subaerial melting, is a key boundary condition for numerical ice sheet models but remains difficult to measure directly in-situ. Many previous studies have quantified frontal ablation over varying spatio-temporal scales, however most use ice discharge as an approximation for frontal ablation, thereby neglecting the influence of terminus location change. Frontal ablation estimates that do account for terminus location change are spatio-temporally limited by the availability of observational data. Here, we present a processing chain to quantify frontal ablation using open-source observational data. We apply the processing chain to 49 tidewater glaciers in Greenland with reliable near-terminus bathymetry data in the BedMachine V4 dataset. Near-terminus volume change over the time period 1987–2020 is determined using a previously published dataset of terminus positions (TermPicks), ice thicknesses from ArcticDEM and AeroDEM, adjusted for surface elevation change over time, and bathymetry data from BedMachine v4. Assuming a vertical terminus geometry and uniform ice density, we estimate frontal ablation as the difference between mass flux towards the terminus (Mankoff, 2019) and mass change between consecutive observation. The frontal ablation dataset offers exciting opportunities for developing new insights into ice dynamics, including helping to improve numerical model hindcasting and projections. Lastly, we provide a processing chain that may serve as a community standard for determining frontal ablation from observational data for any tidewater glacier.

This preprint has been withdrawn.

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Dominik Fahrner, Donald Slater, Aman KC, Claudia Cenedese, David A. Sutherland, Ellyn Enderlin, Femke de Jong, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Michael Wood, Peter Nienow, Sophie Nowicki, and Till Wagner

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
Dominik Fahrner, Donald Slater, Aman KC, Claudia Cenedese, David A. Sutherland, Ellyn Enderlin, Femke de Jong, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Michael Wood, Peter Nienow, Sophie Nowicki, and Till Wagner

Data sets

Frontal ablation estimates for 49 tidewater glaciers in Greenland Dominik Fahrner, Donald Slater, Aman KC, Claudia Cenedese, David A. Sutherland, Ellyn Enderlin, Femke de Jong, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Michael Wood, Peter Nienow, Sophie Nowicki, and Till Wagner https://zenodo.org/records/10278419

Model code and software

Tidewater Glacier Frontal Ablation Calculation Tool (TG_FACT) Dominik Fahrner, Donald Slater, Aman KC, Claudia Cenedese, David A. Sutherland, Ellyn Enderlin, Femke de Jong, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Michael Wood, Peter Nienow, Sophie Nowicki, and Till Wagner https://zenodo.org/records/10278429

Dominik Fahrner, Donald Slater, Aman KC, Claudia Cenedese, David A. Sutherland, Ellyn Enderlin, Femke de Jong, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Michael Wood, Peter Nienow, Sophie Nowicki, and Till Wagner

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This preprint has been withdrawn.

Short summary
Marine-terminating glaciers can lose mass through frontal ablation, which comprises submarine and surface melting, and iceberg calving. We estimate frontal ablation for 49 marine-terminating glaciers in Greenland by combining existing, satellite derived data and calculating volume change near the glacier front over time. The dataset offers exciting opportunities to study the influence of climate forcings on marine-terminating glaciers in Greenland over multi-decadal timescales.
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