Ice-Atmosphere Interactions on the Devon Ice Cap, Canada: the Effects of Climate Warming on Surface Energy Balance, Melting, and Firn Stratigraphy
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University of Alberta Ice-Atmosphere Interactions on the Devon Ice Cap, Canada: the Effects of Climate Warming on Surface Energy Balance, Melting, and Firn Stratigraphy by Gabrielle Gascon A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Earth and Atmospheric Sciences ©Gabrielle Gascon Spring 2014 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. À ma grand-mère, Gigi. Tout a commencé en écoutant le réfrigérateur, classant des roches, et regardant les nuages avec toi. Après plusieurs années d’effort, j’ai enfin eu mon doctorat! ***** To my grandmother, Gigi. It all started with listening to the refrigerator, and looking at rocks and clouds with you. After many years of hard work, I finally got a doctorate! Abstract In order to better constrain the magnitude of projected sea-level rise from Canadian Arctic glaciers during the 21st century warming, it is critical to understand the environmental mechanisms that enhance surface warming and melt, and how the projected increase in surface melt will translate into increased runoff. Between 2004 and 2010, a 4 °C increase in mean air summer temperature, and a 6.1 day yr-1 increase in melt season duration were observed on the Devon Ice Cap, Nunavut. At the same time, a combination of strengthening of the 500 hPa ridge over the Arctic in June-July, and more frequent south-westerly low- pressure systems in August after 2005 created atmospheric conditions that contributed to an increase in the surface energy balance of the ice cap. At 1400m elevation, these changes led to a doubling of the available melt energy and surface melt between 2007 and 2010. Over that same time period, increased meltwater percolation and infiltration ice formation associated with high surface melt rates modified the stratigraphy of firn in the ice cap’s accumulation area very substantially. Growth of a 0.5-4.5 m thick ice layer that filled much of the pore volume of the upper part of the firn reduced vertical percolation of meltwater into deeper parts of the firn. This progressively limited the water storage potential of the firn reservoir, and likely caused a significant increase in surface runoff. An evaluation of the snowpack model Crocus against ground observations for the period 2004-2012 showed that, although the model simulated observed density/depth profiles relatively well at all sites, its representation of heterogeneous percolation as a homogeneous process created conditions that favoured excessive near-surface freezing. At the same time, Crocus’s parameterization of the permeability of ice layers forced meltwater to percolate through them, preventing the buildup of thick impermeable ice layers. These results highlight the importance of treating meltwater percolation in firn as a heterogeneous process, and of accurately representing the impermeability of ice layers to meltwater flow, if the model is to accurately reproduce firn density profile evolution and surface runoff during periods of climate warming. Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisors, Dr. Martin Sharp and Dr. Andy Bush. Thank you for having given me the freedom to design a project I liked. Thank you, Martin, for your constant help and guidance, and your attention to detail; thank you for having been so generous of your time. I appreciated being challenged and stimulated by our discussions. I am also grateful for the numerous opportunities you have given me during my PhD. Thank you, Andy, for your guidance and help, especially while teaching the Atmospheric Modelling course for the first time. I also thank Dr. Jeff Kavanaugh for his guidance and advice while at the University of Alberta, and for the amazing opportunity to lecture on the Juneau Icefield Research Project. It was definitely a breathtaking and stimulating experience. Fieldwork on the Devon Ice Cap was a big component of my thesis. As such, I would like to thank many people, organizations, and funding agencies that participated, supported, and funded the program. I had the opportunity to work with amazing people over the course of the four field seasons I was involved with. Many thanks to Angus Duncan, Brad Danielson, Colleen Mortimer, Dave Burgess, Hannah Milne, Ian Scriver, Martin Sharp, Peter Bezeau, Tyler de Jong, and Wesley Van Wychen, for having shared many adventures on the Devon Ice Cap with me. Having the opportunity to work with such an exceptional group people made my experience on the Devon Ice Cap stimulating, positive, and memorable. Many thanks to the past member of the Devon field team for having maintained and collected valuable data. Permission to conduct research on the Devon Ice Cap was kindly granted by the Nunavut Research Institute and the communities of Grise Fjord and Resolute Bay. Fieldwork was funded by a NSERC Discovery Grant and Northern Research Supplement to M. Sharp, and by Canadian Circumpolar Institute and Northern Scientific Training Program grants. The numerical modelling aspect of my studies would not have been possible without the guidance of Samuel Morin and Mathieu Lafaysse from Météo-France, Grenoble, as well as the formidable work from the WestGrid support team. Many friends in Edmonton have helped and supported me during my studies. Alex Gardner, Ben Gready, and Angus Duncan were cheerful and dynamical officemates during the first part of my PhD. I appreciated the friendship of Hannah Milne, Brad Danielson, Colleen Mortimer, Fay Wyatt, Ian Scriver and Peter Bezeau. A special thanks to my friends Louise, Alexandra, Magali, and Katarina, especially for French TV night and fun Zumba times. Many, many, many thanks to my family, Papa and Sylvie, Maman and Maurice, Camille, and Èlise, who encouraged and supported me throughout my studies. Thank you for believing I could do it. I also thank Peter for brainstorming ideas, and for your love and support. I am grateful to have met you. Finally, I would like to thank NSERC Canada, the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec – Nature et Technologies (FQRNT), the Canadian Circumpolar Institute, the Institute of Geophysical Research of the University of Alberta, the University of Alberta, and the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanic Society (CMOS) for scholarships and grants throughout my degree. Table of Contents Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Motivation ..................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Project and Objectives ................................................................................... 4 1.4 References ..................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 11 2.2 Methods ....................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Field data collection .............................................................................. 13 2.2.2 Two-meter air temperature processing ................................................. 14 2.2.3 Energy balance modelling .................................................................... 15 2.2.4 Evaluation of atmospheric conditions .................................................. 16 2.3 Results and discussion ................................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Two-meter air temperature ................................................................... 17 2.3.2 Melt season duration ............................................................................. 18 2.3.3 Surface energy balance (SEB) analysis ................................................ 19 2.3.4 Accuracy and validation of SEB model................................................ 22 2.3.5 Atmospheric conditions and their association with surface melt ......... 23 2.4 Summary and conclusion ............................................................................ 25 2.5 References ................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................... 37 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 37 3. 2 Data collection ............................................................................................ 39 3.2.1