Spectral attenuation coefficients from measurements of light transmission in bare ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet

Light transmission into bare glacial ice affects surface energy balance, biophotochemistry, and light detection and ranging (lidar) laser elevation measurements but has not previously been reported for the Greenland Ice Sheet. We present measurements of spectral transmittance at 350–900 nm in bare glacial ice collected at a field site in the western Greenland ablation zone (67.15∘ N, 50.02∘ W). Empirical irradiance attenuation coefficients at 350–750 nm are ∼ 0.9–8.0 m−1 for ice at 12–124 cm depth. The absorption minimum is at ∼ 390–397 nm, in agreement with snow transmission measurements in Antarctica and optical mapping of deep ice at the South Pole. From 350–530 nm, our empirical attenuation coefficients are nearly 1 order of magnitude larger than theoretical values for optically pure ice. The estimated absorption coefficient at 400 nm suggests the ice volume contained a light-absorbing particle concentration equivalent to ∼ 1–2 parts per billion (ppb) of black carbon, which is similar to pre-industrial values found in remote polar snow. The equivalent mineral dust concentration is ∼ 300–600 ppb, which is similar to values for Northern Hemisphere warm periods with low aeolian activity inferred from ice cores. For a layer of quasi-granular white ice (weathering crust) extending from the surface to ∼ 10 cm depth, attenuation coefficients are 1.5 to 4 times larger than for deeper bubbly ice. Owing to higher attenuation in this layer of near-surface granular ice, optical penetration depth at 532 nm is 14 cm (20 %) lower than asymptotic attenuation lengths for optically pure bubbly ice. In addition to the traditional concept of light scattering on air bubbles, our results imply that the granular near-surface ice microstructure of weathering crust is an important control on radiative transfer in bare ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet ablation zone, and we provide new values of flux attenuation, absorption, and scattering coefficients to support model development and validation.

Multi-Frequency Satellite Approaches for Snow on Sea Ice: first results from the POLAR+ Snow on Sea Ice ESA project

<p>Abstract: We propose new methods for multi-frequency snow thickness retrievals building on the legacy of the Arctic+ Snow project where we developed two products: the dual-altimetry Snow Thickness (DuST) and the Snow on Drifting Sea Ice (SnoDSI). The primary objective of this project is to investigate multi-frequency approaches to retrieve snow thickness over all types of sea ice surfaces in the Arctic and provide a state-of-the-art snow product. Our approach follows ESA ITT recommendations to prioritise satellite-based products and will benefit from the recent ‘golden era in polar altimetry’ with the successful launch of the laser altimeter ICESat-2 in 2018 complementing data provided by the rich fleet of radar altimeters, CryoSat-2, Sentinel-3 A/B, AltiKa. Our primary objective is to produce an optimal snow product over the recent ‘operational‘ period. This will be complemented by additional snow products covering a longer periods of climate relevance and making use of historical altimeters (Envisat, ICESat-1) and passive microwave radiometers for comparison purposes (SMOS, AMSRE, AMSR-2). In addition to snow thickness, and as a secondary objective, we will explore other snow characteristics (snow density, snow metamorphism, scattering horizon, roughness, etc) and compare these results with in-situ, airborne and other snow on sea ice products including from model studies and reanalysis on drifting sea ice products. In preparation to future multi-frequency mission we will put an emphasis on uncertainty analysis of our snow product, the impact of the snow on the sea ice thickness retrieval, and on climate physics via model runs with snow initialisation and data assimilation. Finally, learning from past and present campaings (i.e. CryoVex, MOSAiC) we will propose methodologies for effective future snow and sea ice thickness airborne validation campaigns via innovative inverse modelling approaches and airborne retrackers.</p><p> </p>

Americium-241 in peat bogs as a marker of the beginning of the Anthropocene: examples from Europe and North America.

<p>Americium-241 (<sup>241</sup>Am) is present in the terrestrial and aquatic environment around the globe as a result of the atmospheric testing of high yield thermonuclear weapons carried out mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. Radioactive debris (including mainly <sup>137</sup>Cs, <sup>90</sup>Sr, and various Pu isotopes) from the tests was injected high into the stratosphere where it was rapidly dispersed around the world. Over a period of months this material slowly returned to the troposphere, and from there was quickly removed by wet and dry fallout onto the earth’s surface. Amounts of <sup>241</sup>Am in freshly deposited weapons test debris were essentially zero. Its presence today is through in-growth from its short-lived precursor <sup>241</sup>Pu (half-life 14.4 years). By this process concentrations of <sup>241</sup>Am have steadily increased with time and will continue to do so through to around 2040. Widely considered to be immobile in soils and sediments, with its well-known origins and long half-life (432 years), <sup>241</sup>Am is in many ways an ideal chronostratigraphic marker of the nuclear age. Calculations show that the <sup>241</sup>Am record in any ideal natural archive is a faithful representation of the history of weapons test fallout. Beginning in the early 1950s, fallout reached a peak in 1963 and then declined rapidly following the implementation of the test ban treaty. A number of scientists have proposed that the weapons test fallout peak could be used to mark the start of the Anthropocene. Various geological archives preserve the record of fallout, though with varying degrees of fidelity. They include polar snow and ice, marine and lacustrine sediments, and peat bogs. Bogs are ombrotrophic peatlands in that the plants growing there receive nutrients and contaminants exclusively from the atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to determine the fidelity of <sup>241</sup>Am records in peat bog cores.<br>Specifically, we compare the position of the <sup>241</sup>Am concentration peak with the 1963 depth determined by <sup>210</sup>Pb dating. We use 39 peat cores from Europe, North America, and Indonesia collected by our team during the past 30 years for studies of atmospheric deposition of trace metals, all of which had been independently dated using <sup>210</sup>Pb. We find that 18 of the cores provide an excellent agreement between the <sup>241</sup>Am and <sup>210</sup>Pb dates, 12 were in good agreement, and 9 agreed poorly. Possible reasons for the discrepancy in the 9 cores with the poor agreement are 1) the sensitivity of the gamma spectrometer for detecting <sup>241</sup>Am, and 2) disruptions to the fallout records caused e.g. by disturbances to the peat bog or changes in the peat topography or hydrology. Small scale horizontal and vertical variations in bogs help explain why in a triplicate of peat cores collected from Wildseemoor in the Black Forest of Germany, excellent agreement was found in one core, good agreement in a second, and poor agreement in the third. A peat core collected from Gola di Lago, a small fen in Switzerland, showed excellent agreement; this suggests that samples from minerotrophic peatlands may also be useful to mark the start of the Anthropocene.</p>

Snow-Pit Record from a Coastal Antarctic Site and Its Preservation of Meteorological Features

Polar snow pits or ice cores preserve valuable information derived from the atmosphere on past climate and environment changes. A 1.57-m snow-pit record from the coastal site (Styx Glacier) in eastern Antarctica covering the period from January 2011 to January 2015 was discussed and compared with meteorological variables. The dominant contribution of the deposition of sea-salt aerosols due to the proximity of the site to the ocean and processes of sea ice formation was revealed in the ionic concentrations. Consistent seasonal peaks in δ 18 O, δ D, MSA, , and indicate the strong enhancement of their source during warm periods, whereas the sea-salt ions (Na + , K + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Cl − , and ) exhibit a distinct distribution. Monthly mean δ 18 O positively correlates with the air temperature record from an automatic weather station (AWS) located in the main wind direction. Despite the shortness of the record, we suspect that the slight depletion of the isotopic composition and lowering of the snow accumulation could be related to the cooler air temperature with the decrease of open sea area. Consistency with previous studies and the positive correlation of sea-salt ions in the snow pit indicate the relatively good preservation of snow layers with noticeable climate and environmental signals [e.g., changes in sea ice extent (SIE) or sea surface temperature]. We report a new snow-pit record, which would be comparative and supportive to understand similar signals preserved in deeper ice cores in this location.

Mineral Dust Influence on the Glacial Nitrate Record from the RICE Ice Core, West Antarctica and Environmental Implications

Nitrate (NO3−), an abundant aerosol in polar snow, is a complex environmental proxy to interpret owing to the variety of its sources and its susceptibility to post-depositional processes. During the last glacial period, when the dust level in the Antarctic atmosphere was higher than today by a factor up to ~25, mineral dust appears to have a stabilizing effect on the NO3− concentration. However, the exact mechanism remains unclear. Here, we present new and highly resolved records of NO3− and non-sea salt calcium (nssCa2+, a proxy for mineral dust) from the Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) ice core for the period 26–40 kilo years Before Present (ka BP). This interval includes seven millennial-scale Antarctic Isotope Maxima (AIM) events, against the background of a glacial climate state. We observe a significant correlation between NO3− and nssCa2+ over this period and especially during AIM events. We put our observation into a spatial context by comparing the records to existing data from east Antarctic cores of EPICA Dome C (EDC), Vostok and central Dome Fuji. The data suggest that nssCa2+ is contributing to the effective scavenging of NO3− from the atmosphere through the formation of Ca(NO3)2. The geographic pattern implies that the process of Ca(NO3)2 formation occurs during the long-distance transport of mineral dust from the mid-latitude source regions by Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds (SHWW) and most likely over the Southern Ocean. Since NO3− is dust-bound and the level of dust mobilized through AIM events is mainly regulated by the latitudinal position of SHWW, we suggest that NO3− may also have the potential to provide insights into paleo-westerly wind pattern during the events.

Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance response to high CO2 forcing: threshold and mechanisms for accelerated surface mass loss

<p>We use the Community Earth System model 2.1 to investigate the response of the Greenland Ice sheet (GrIS) surface mass balance (SMB) to an idealized high CO<sub>2</sub> forcing scenario (1% per year increase to four-times-preindustrial). The SMB calculation is coupled with the atmospheric model, using a physically-based surface energy balance scheme for melt, explicit calculation of snow albedo, and a realistic treatment of polar snow and firn compaction. The SMB becomes negative for a global mean temperature increase of 2.7 K compared to pre-industrial temperature, and the surface mass loss accelerates. Longwave radiation is the primary contributor to melt energy before acceleration. A decrease of the albedo due to ablation area expansion together with turbulent heat flux increase due to the surface of the ice sheet nearing melting point, are the main contributors at/after acceleration. Further, trends towards more positive North Atlantic Oscillation and more negative Greenland Blocking Index partially reduces future melt increase.</p>

Electric Phenomena as a Possible Driver of Polar Snow-air Interactions: Does this Factor Act Synergistically with Photoinduced Effects?

Processes that occur inside polar snow cover significantly affect polar atmosphere but they are still poorly understood. Most studies consider photochemistry as the dominant mechanism of chemical transformations but recent field data cannot be interpreted only by such photochemical model. A concept is proposed to consider electric phenomena that are well known to physics but their role was never analyzed by snow chemistry specialists. But there is a question on how to differentiate influences of photo effects and electric phenomena. It can be supposed that these factors are not independent. On the contrary, they reinforce each other and act synergistically.

Numerical experiments on vapor diffusion in polar snow and firn and its impact on isotopes using the multi-layer energy balance model Crocus in SURFEX v8.0

To evaluate the impact of vapor diffusion on isotopic composition variations in snow pits and then in ice cores, we introduced water isotopes in the detailed snowpack model Crocus. At each step and for each snow layer, (1) the initial isotopic composition of vapor is taken at equilibrium with the solid phase, (2) a kinetic fractionation is applied during transport, and (3) vapor is condensed or snow is sublimated to compensate for deviation to vapor pressure at saturation. We study the different effects of temperature gradient, compaction, wind compaction, and precipitation on the final vertical isotopic profiles. We also run complete simulations of vapor diffusion along isotopic gradients and of vapor diffusion driven by temperature gradients at GRIP, Greenland and at Dome C, Antarctica over periods of 1 or 10 years. The vapor diffusion tends to smooth the original seasonal signal, with an attenuation of 7 to 12 % of the original signal over 10 years at GRIP. This is smaller than the observed attenuation in ice cores, indicating that the model attenuation due to diffusion is underestimated or that other processes, such as ventilation, influence attenuation. At Dome C, the attenuation is stronger (18 %), probably because of the lower accumulation and stronger δ18O gradients.