High resolution modelling of the Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance using the regional climate model MAR coupled with a downscaling interface

We are developing a coupling interface downscaling the 25km-atmosphere fields simulated by the regional climate MAR (Modèle Atmosphérique Régional) model onto a 5km-grid in order to resolve the surface processes at high resolution with the SISVAT (Sea Ice Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer) snow-ice module. This coupling interface improves the representation of the topography and ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) in the MAR model, and therefore will provide higher resolution estimations of the GrIS surface mass balance (SMB) without additional computing time. By using outputs from previously-gauged global circulation models (GCM) as forcing fields, the MAR model coupled with the downscaling interface will then perform 5km future simulations of the GrIS SMB for different IPCC greenhouse gas emissions scenarios for the 21st century.