Current sea-level rise partly stems from increased surface melting and meltwater runoff from the Greenland ice sheet. Multi-year snow, also known as firn, covers about 80% of the ice sheet and retains part of the surface meltwater. Since the firn cold content integrates its physical and thermal characteristics, it is a valuable tool for determining the meltwater-retention potential of firn. We use gap-filled climatological data from nine automatic weather stations in the ice-sheet accumulation area to drive a surface-energy-budget and firn model, validated against firn density and temperature observations, over the 1998–2017 period. Our results show a stable top 20 m firn cold content (CC20) at most sites. Only at the lower-elevation Dye-2 site did CC20 decrease, by 24% in 2012, before recovering to its original value by 2017. Heat conduction towards the surface is the main process feeding CC20 at all nine sites, while CC20 reduction occurs through low-cold-content fresh-snow addition at the surface during snowfall and latent-heat release when meltwater refreezes. Our simulations suggest that firn densification, while reducing pore space for meltwater retention, increases the firn cold content, enhances near-surface meltwater refreezing and potentially sets favourable conditions for ice-slab formation.

Alberta’s Bow River has its headwaters in the glaciated eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies and is a major source of water in southern Alberta. Glacial retreat, declining snowpacks and increased water demand are all expected in the coming century, yet there are relatively few studies focusing on quantifying glacial meltwater in the Bow River. We develop a new radiation-temperature melt model for modelling distributed glacier mass balance and runoff in the Bow River basin. The model reflects physical processes through the incorporation of near-surface air temperature and absorbed radiation, while avoiding problems of collinearity through the use of a radiation-decorrelated temperature index. The model is calibrated at Haig Glacier in the southern portion of the basin and validated at Haig and Peyto Glaciers. Application of the model to the entire Bow River basin for 2000-09 shows glacier ice melt is equivalent to 3% of annual discharge in Calgary on average. Modelled ice melt in August is equal to 8-20% of the August Bow River discharge in Calgary. This emphasizes the importance of glacier runoff to late-summer streamflow in the region, particularly in warm, dry years.

This study provides an estimate of fresh water derived from ice melt for the ablation areas of glaciers in the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP), Pakistan. In the CKNP there are ~700 glaciers, covering ~4600 km2, with widespread debris cover (518 km2). To assess meltwater volume we applied a distributed model able to describe both debris-covered and debris-free ice ablation. The model was calibrated using data collected in the field in the CKNP area and validated by comparison with ablation data collected in the field, independent of the data used in building the model. During 23 July–9 August 2011, the mean model-estimated ablation in the CKNP was 0.024 m w.e. d–1 in debris-covered areas and 0.037 m w.e. d–1 in debris-free areas. We found a mean error of +0.01 m w.e. (corresponding to 2%) and a root-mean-square error equal to 0.09 m w.e. (17%). According to our model, the ablation areas of all the glaciers in the CKNP produced a water volume of 1.963 km3 during the study period. Finally, we performed several sensitivity tests for assessing the impact of the input data variations.

Airborne and spaceborne remote sensing of ice freeboard offers a good method of retrieving ice thickness in the polar oceans. However, its accuracy is highly limited by the factors altering the hydrostatic equilibrium of ice floes, such as snow cover and melt ponds which change the surface loading on the ice volume. In contrast to the abundant studies on snow loads, little attention has been paid to the role of melt ponds, partly owing to the difficulties of freeboard measurements during the melt season. To help fill this gap and provide a basis for possible instruments and algorithms being able to access ice freeboard with melting surface in future, a theoretical model was developed to investigate the uncertainty in ice thickness retrieval due to surface melting. First, the ice thickness was related to the freeboard, snow depth, melt pond size and densities of snow, ice and water, and then a sensitivity analysis was carried out to study the influence of melt pond morphology. The results show that melting ice has a much lower mean thickness than ice without a melting surface, although with the same freeboard because of a loss of floe weight due to melting. During pond evolution, a floe gains weight when ponds deepen on the vertical scale, but loses weight when they widen on the horizontal scale, resulting in increasing mean ice thickness with decreasing pond depth and fraction. Freeboard is found to be the major source of uncertainty in the retrieved thickness of first-year ice (FYI), while it is ice density in the case of multi-year ice (MYI). The ratio of ice draft to freeboard ranges from 3.0 to 6.2 for FYI and 2.0 to 4.1 for MYI, agreeing with field observations during melting seasons.

The aim of this research is to investigate elevation changes in the Antarctic ice sheet by comparing two digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from satellite altimetry data covering the period 1994–2004. Data collected by ERS-1/2 satellite radar altimetry and by NASA GLAS/ICESat laser altimetry were used. After preprocessing and resampling at the same spatial resolution, both DEMs were compared in a pointwise fashion and elevation differences computed, which consisted of three main components: (1) actual elevation change, (2) errors in the original data sources and (3) interpolation errors that arose during generation of the DEMs. The objectives of the research were to analyze errors, attempt to mitigate systematic effects when possible, and draw some conclusions about the limitations of using DEM products for computing ice-sheet elevation change at local and continental scales. A linear correlation between errors in elevation differences and surface slope was found in the slope range [0°, 0.4°]. This trend was interpreted as residual slope-induced systematic error and compensated for. Finally, an elevation difference map of the Antarctic ice sheet was generated. Analysis of the derived elevation changes at the drainage basin was also made. Results are compared with the results of previous studies.

Supraglacial meltwater lakes trigger ice-shelf break-up and modulate seasonal ice-sheet flow, and are thus agents by which warming is transmitted to the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. To characterize supraglacial lake variability we perform a comparative analysis of lake geometry and depth in two distinct regions, one on the pre-collapse (2002) Larsen B ice shelf, Antarctica, and the other in the ablation zone of Paakitsoq, a land-terminating region of the Greenland ice sheet. Compared to Paakitsoq, lakes on the Larsen B ice shelf cover a greater proportion of surface area (5.3% cf. 1%), but are shallower and more uniform in area. Other aspects of lake geometry (e.g. eccentricity, degree of convexity (solidity) and orientation) are relatively similar between the two regions. We attribute the notable difference in lake density and depth between ice-shelf and grounded ice to the fact that ice shelves have flatter surfaces and less distinct drainage basins. Ice shelves also possess more stimuli to small-scale, localized surface elevation variability, due to the various structural features that yield small variations in thickness and which float at different levels by Archimedes’ principle.

To study the glaciological processes controlling the mass budget of Greenland’s peripheral glaciers and ice caps, field measurements were carried out on Qaanaaq ice cap, a 20 km long ice cap in northwestern Greenland. In the summer of 2012, we measured surface melt rate, ice flow velocity and ice thickness along a survey route spanning the ice margin (200m a.s.l.) to the ice-cap summit (1110m a.s.l.). Melt rates in the ablation area were clearly influenced by dark materials covering the ice surface, where degree-day factors varied from 5.44 mm w.e. K–1 d–1 on a clean surface to 8.26 mm w.e. K–1 d–1 in the dark regions. Ice velocity showed diurnal variations, indicating the presence of surface-meltwater induced basal sliding. Mean ice thickness along the survey route was 120 m, with a maximum thickness of 165 m. Ice velocity and temperature fields were computed using a thermomechanically coupled numerical glacier model. Modelled ice temperature, obtained by imposing estimated annual mean air temperature as the surface boundary condition, was substantially lower than implied by the observed ice velocity. This result suggests that the ice dynamics and thermodynamics of the ice cap are significantly influenced by heat transfer from meltwater and changing ice geometry.

Distributed energy-balance melt models have rarely been applied to glaciers with extensive supraglacial debris cover. This paper describes the development of a distributed melt model and its application to the debris-covered Miage glacier, western Italian Alps, over two summer seasons. Sub-debris melt rates are calculated using an existing debris energy-balance model (DEB-Model), and melt rates for clean ice, snow and partially debris-covered ice are calculated using standard energy-balance equations. Simulated sub-debris melt rates compare well to ablation stake observations. Melt rates are highest, and most sensitive to air temperature, on areas of dirty, crevassed ice on the middle glacier. Here melt rates are highly spatially variable because the debris thickness and surface type varies markedly. Melt rates are lowest, and least sensitive to air temperature, beneath the thickest debris on the lower glacier. Debris delays and attenuates the melt signal compared to clean ice, with peak melt occurring later in the day with increasing debris thickness. The continuously debris-covered zone consistently provides 30% of total melt throughout the ablation season, with the proportion increasing during cold weather. Sensitivity experiments show that an increase in debris thickness of 0.035 m would offset 18C of atmospheric warming.

The effects of meltwater percolation on pollen in snow, firn and glacial ice are not fully understood and currently hamper the use of pollen in ice-core studies of paleoclimate. Several studies have suggested that, due to grain size, pollen is not mobilized by meltwater transport. However, these findings contradict many ice-core pollen studies that show pollen concentrations in snow and firn are much higher than concentrations found in the ice layers they eventually form. This study addresses one aspect of this question by investigating whether meltwater percolation can effectively transport pollen within a snowpack. We used nine Styrofoam coolers filled by natural snow accumulation. The coolers were tested in three groups of three replicates each to simulate different glacier snowpack conditions, and spiked at the surface with a known amount of Lycopodium marker spores. The snow was melted to two-thirds the original volume, sampled stratigraphically and tested for spore concentrations. Meltwater effluent was also collected and examined. Results show substantial vertical and horizontal spore transport during the experiment. Peak spore concentrations were found in the bottommost snow layer or in the meltwater effluent in eight of nine coolers, indicating that the majority of surface spores were transported through the snowpack via meltwater percolation and/or runoff.

Thick debris cover on glaciers can significantly reduce ice melt. However, several studies have suggested that debris-covered glaciers in the Himalaya might have lost mass at a rate similar to debris-free glaciers. We reconstruct elevation and mass changes for the debris-covered glaciers of the upper Langtang valley, Nepalese Himalaya, using a digital elevation model (DEM) from 1974 stereo Hexagon satellite data and the 2000 SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM. Uncertainties are high in the accumulation areas, due to data gaps in the SRTM and difficulties with delineation of the glacier borders. Even with these uncertainties, we obtain thinning rates comparable to those of several other studies in the Himalaya. In particular, we obtain a total mass balance for the investigated debris-covered glaciers of the basin of –0.32 ± 0.18 m w.e. a−1. However, there are major spatial differences both between glaciers and within any single glacier, exhibiting a very distinct nonlinear mass-balance profile with elevation. Through analysis of surface velocities derived from Landsat ETM+ imagery, we show that thinning occurs in areas of low velocity and low slope. These areas are prone to a general, dynamic decay of surface features and to the development of supraglacial lakes and ice cliffs, which may be responsible for a considerable increase in overall glacier ablation.

Since the 1970s, the sudden, rapid collapse of 20% of ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula has led to large-scale thinning and acceleration of its tributary glaciers. The leading hypothesis for the collapse of most of these ice shelves is the process of hydrofracturing, whereby a water-filled crevasse is opened by the hydrostatic pressure acting at the crevasse tip. This process has been linked to observed atmospheric warming through the increased supply of meltwater. Importantly, the low-density firn layer near the ice-shelf surface, providing a porous medium in which meltwater can percolate and refreeze, has to be filled in with refrozen meltwater first, before hydrofracturing can occur at all. Here we build upon this notion of firn air depletion as a precursor of ice-shelf collapse, by using a firn model to show that pore space was depleted in the firn layer on former ice shelves, which enabled their collapse due to hydrofracturing. Two climate scenario runs with the same model indicate that during the 21st century most Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves, and some minor ice shelves elsewhere, are more likely to become susceptible to collapse following firn air depletion. If warming continues into the 22nd century, similar depletion will become widespread on ice shelves around East Antarctica. Our model further suggests that a projected increase in snowfall will protect the Ross and Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelves from hydrofracturing in the coming two centuries.

We investigate the performance of five glacier melt models over a multi-decadal period in order to assess their ability to model future glacier response. The models range from a simple degree-day model, based solely on air temperature, to more-sophisticated models, including the full shortwave radiation balance. In addition to the empirical models, the performance of a physically based energy-balance (EB) model is examined. The melt models are coupled to an accumulation and a surface evolution model and applied in a distributed manner to Rhonegletscher, Switzerland, over the period 1929–2012 at hourly resolution. For calibration, seasonal mass-balance measurements (2006–12) are used. Decadal ice volume changes for six periods in the years 1929–2012 serve for model validation. Over the period 2006–12, there are almost no differences in performance between the models, except for EB, which is less consistent with observations, likely due to lack of meteorological in situ data. However, simulations over the long term (1929–2012) reveal that models which include a separate term for shortwave radiation agree best with the observed ice volume changes, indicating that their melt relationships are robust in time and thus suitable for long-term modelling, in contrast to more empirical approaches that are oversensitive to temperature fluctuations.

The Greenland ice sheet is experiencing dramatic melt that is likely to continue with rapid Arctic warming. However, the proportion of meltwater stored before reaching the global ocean remains difficult to quantify. We use NASA MODIS surface reflectance data to estimate river discharge from two West Greenland rivers – the Watson River near Kangerlussuaq and the Naujat Kuat River near Nuuk – over the summers of 2000–12. By comparison with in situ river discharge observations, ‘inundation–discharge’ relations were constructed for both rivers. MODIS-based total annual discharges agree well with total discharge estimated from in situ observations (86% of summer discharge in 2009 to 96% in 2011 at the Watson River, and 106% of total discharge in 2011 to 104% in 2012 at the Naujat Kuat River). We find, however, that a time-lapse camera, deployed at the Watson River in summer 2012, better captures the variations in observed discharge, benefiting from fewer data gaps due to clouds. The MODIS-derived estimates indicate that summer discharge has not significantly increased over the last decade, despite a strong warming trend. Also, meltwater runoff estimates derived from the regional climate model RACMO2/GR for the drainage basins are higher than our reconstructions of river discharge. These results provide indirect evidence for a considerable component of water storage within the glacio-hydrological system.

We simulated the Late Weichselian extent and dynamics of the Eurasian ice sheets using the shallow-ice approximation ice-sheet model SICOPOLIS. Our simulated Last Glacial Maximum ice-sheet extents closely resemble geomorphological reconstructions, and areas of modelled fast flow are consistent with the known locations of palaeo-ice streams. Motivated by documented velocity response to increased meltwater inputs on Greenland, we tested the sensitivity of the simulated ice sheet to the surface meltwater effect (SME) through a simple parameterization relating basal sliding to local surface melt rate and ice thickness. Model runs including the SME produce significantly reduced ice volume during deglaciation, with maximum ice surface velocities much greater than in similar runs that neglect the SME. We find that the simple treatment of the SME is not applicable across the whole ice sheet; however, our results highlight the importance of the SME for dynamic response to increased melting. The southwest sector of the Scandinavian ice sheet is most sensitive to the SME, with fast flow in the Baltic ice stream region shutting off by 15 ka BP when the SME is turned on, coincident with a retreat of the ice-margin position into the Gulf of Bothnia.

Melt layers are clear indicators of extreme summer warmth on polar ice caps. The visual identification of refrozen meltwater as clear bubble-free layers cannot be used to study some past warm periods, because, in deeper ice, bubbles are lost to clathrate formation. We present here a reliable method to detect melt events, based on the analysis of Kr/Ar and Xe/Ar ratios in ice cores, and apply it to the detection of melt in clathrate ice from the Eemian at NEEM, Greenland. Additionally, melt layers in ice cores can compromise the integrity of the gas record by dissolving soluble gases, or by altering gas transport in the firn, which affects the gas chronology. We find that the easily visible 1 mm thick bubble-free layers in the WAIS Divide ice core do not contain sufficient melt to alter the gas composition in the core, and do not cause artifacts or discontinuities in the gas chronology. The presence of these layers during winter, and the absence of anomalies in soluble gases, suggests that these layers can be formed by processes other than refreezing of meltwater. Consequently, the absence of bubbles in thin crusts is not in itself proof of a melt event.

The McMurdo Dry Valleys, southern Victoria Land, East Antarctica, are a polar desert, and melt from glacial ice is the primary source of water to streams, lakes and associated ecosystems. Previous work found that to adequately model glacier ablation and subsurface ice temperatures with a surface energy-balance model required including the transmission of solar radiation into the ice. Here we investigate the contribution of subsurface melt to the mass balance of (and runoff from) Dry Valley glaciers by including a drainage process in the model and applying the model to three glacier sites using 13 years of hourly meteorological data. Model results for the smooth glacier surfaces common to many glaciers in the Dry Valleys showed that sublimation was typically the largest component of surface lowering, with rare episodes of surface melting, consistent with anecdotal field observations. Results also showed extensive internal melting 5–15 cm below the ice surface, the drainage of which accounted for ~50% of summer ablation. This is consistent with field observations of subsurface streams and formation of a weathering crust. We identify an annual cycle of weathering crust formation in summer and its removal during the 10 months of winter sublimation.

Tibetan glaciers experience spatially heterogeneous changes, which call for further investigation of the mechanisms responsible from an energy and mass perspective. In this study, 2 year parallel observations (August 2010–July 2012) at 5665 m a.s.l. on Zhadang glacier (a subcontinental glacier) and 5202 m a.s.l. on Parlung No. 4 glacier (a maritime glacier) were used to reveal the drivers of surface energy and mass balance at these sites. Glacio-meteorological data show that air temperature and specific humidity were 1.7°C and 0.5 g kg−1 lower on Zhadang glacier than on Parlung No. 4 glacier. The mass accumulation occurred primarily before the Indian summer monsoon onset on Parlung No. 4 glacier and after its onset on Zhadang glacier. Point net mass loss was 2.5 times larger on Parlung No. 4 glacier than on Zhadang glacier, mainly due to the difference in melt energy. Overall, the physical mechanisms controlling the mass and energy difference can be attributed to both the feedback role of surface albedo through different snow accumulation characteristics and longwave radiation emission of the atmosphere due to different meteorological backgrounds. Finally, a review of the few studies dealing with energy balance on the Tibetan glaciers describes the possible spatial characteristics requiring further investigation in the future on larger spatial and temporal scales.

Assessment of the sensitivity of surface mass balance and equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) to climate change is crucial for simulating the future evolution of glaciers. Such an assessment has been carried out using an extensive dataset comprising numerous measurements of snow accumulation and snow and ice ablation made on four French glaciers over the past 16 years. Winter mass balance shows a complicated pattern with respect to altitude, with no clear linear relationship. Although the ratios of winter mass balance to valley precipitation differ considerably from site to site, they are relatively constant over time. Relationships between snow/ice ablation and temperature are stable, with no link with altitude. The mean snow and ice positive degree-day (PDD) factors are 0.003 and 0.0061 m w.e. °C−1 d−1. This analysis shows that, at a given site, ablation depends mainly on the amount of snow precipitation and on cumulative PDDs. The sensitivity of annual ablation to temperature change increases almost linearly from 0.25 m w.e. °C−1 at 3500 m to 1.55 m w.e. °C−1 at 1650 m. ELA sensitivity to temperature change was found to range from 50 to 85 m °C−1.

We assess the runoff and surface mass balance (SMB) of the Greenland ice sheet in the Nuuk region (southwest) using output of two regional climate models (RCMs) evaluated by observations. The region encompasses six glaciers that drain into Godthåbsfjord. RCM data (1960–2012) are resampled to a high spatial resolution to include the narrow (relative to the native grid spacing) glacier trunks in the ice mask. Comparing RCM gridded results with automatic weather station (AWS) point measurements reveals that locally models can underestimate ablation and overestimate accumulation by up to tens of per cent. However, comparison with lake discharge indicates that modelled regional runoff totals are more accurate. Model results show that melt and runoff in the Nuuk region have doubled over the past two decades. Regional SMB attained negative values in recent high-melt years. Taking into account frontal ablation of the marine-terminating glaciers, the region lost 10–20 km3 w.e. a–1 in 2010–12. If 2010 melting prevails during the remainder of this century, a low-end estimate of sea-level rise of 5 mm is expected by 2100 from this relatively small section (2.6%) of the ice sheet alone.

Supraglacial meltwater reaching a glacier bed can increase ice surface velocities via hydraulic jacking and enhanced basal sliding. However, the relationships between the structure of supraglacial drainage systems, sink-point distributions, glacier flow processes and the magnitude of interannual velocity variability are poorly understood. To explore the hypothesis that spatial variations in the rate and mechanisms of glacier flow are linked to variations in supraglacial drainage system structure and sink-point distribution across an ice cap, we mapped supraglacial drainage systems on Devon Ice Cap from Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery. Spatial patterns of surface velocity and interannual velocity variability were determined using gradient correlation applied to Landsat-7 ETM+ images. Velocity variability is greater in areas close to sink-point locations, presumably because hydrologically forced basal sliding and/or bed deformation are enhanced in such areas. The distribution and characteristics of supraglacial drainage systems may play an important role in determining the distribution of regions of basal sliding, highlighting the need for knowledge of the supraglacial drainage system structure and sink-point distribution to inform efforts to model the dynamic response of Arctic ice caps to future climate warming.