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2018•Unpublished venueOpen access

Brief communication: Firn data compilation reveals the evolution of the firn air content on the Greenland ice sheet

B. Vandecrux, Michael MacFerrin, Horst Machguth, William Colgan, D. van As, Achim Heilig, C. Max Stevens, Charalampos Charalampidis, Robert S. Fausto, Ε. M. Morris, Ellen Mosley‐Thompson, L. Koenig, Lynn Montgomery, C. Miège, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Thomas Ingeman‐Nielsen, Jason E. Box

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Abstract

Abstract. The firn covering the Greenland ice sheet interior can retain part of the surface melt, buffering the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level, but its characteristics are still little known. Using remote-sensing observations from 2000–2017, we estimate that firn covers 1,405,500 ± 17,250 km2 of the ice sheet. We present 344 firn-core-derived observations of the top 10 m firn air content (FAC10), indicative of the firn’s meltwater retention capacity. FAC10 remained stable in the coldest 74 % of the firn area during 1953–2017, while FAC10 decreased in the warmest and driest 12 % of the firn area between 1997–2008 and 2011–2017, resulting in a loss of 180 ± 78 km3 (−26 ± 11 %) of air from the near-surface firn.

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Abstract. The firn covering the Greenland ice sheet interior can retain part of the surface melt, buffering the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level, but its characteristics are still little known. Using remote-sensing observations from 2000–2017, we estimate that firn covers 1,405,500 ± 17,250 km2 of the ice sheet. We present 344 firn-core-derived observations of the top 10 m firn air content (FAC10), indicative of the firn’s meltwater retention capacity. FAC10 remained stable in the coldest 74 % of the firn area during 1953–2017, while FAC10 decreased in the warmest and driest 12 % of the firn area between 1997–2008 and 2011–2017, resulting in a loss of 180 ± 78 km3 (−26 ± 11 %) of air from the near-surface firn.

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Available abstract

Abstract. The firn covering the Greenland ice sheet interior can retain part of the surface melt, buffering the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level, but its characteristics are still little known. Using remote-sensing observations from 2000–2017, we estimate that firn covers 1,405,500 ± 17,250 km2 of the ice sheet. We present 344 firn-core-derived observations of the top 10 m firn air content (FAC10), indicative of the firn’s meltwater retention capacity. FAC10 remained stable in the coldest 74 % of the firn area during 1953–2017, while FAC10 decreased in the warmest and driest 12 % of the firn area between 1997–2008 and 2011–2017, resulting in a loss of 180 ± 78 km3 (−26 ± 11 %) of air from the near-surface firn.

Key concepts: Firn, Greenland ice sheet, Meltwater, Geology, Ice sheet, Ice core, Physical geography, Climatology

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