
NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | July 12, 2013 |
Latest Amendment Date: | July 12, 2013 |
Award Number: | 1304807 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Cynthia Suchman
csuchman@nsf.gov (703)292-2092 OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
Start Date: | August 1, 2013 |
End Date: | July 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $405,907.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $405,907.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3100 MARINE ST Boulder CO US 80309-0001 (303)492-6221 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
3100 Marine Street Boulder CO US 80303-1058 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | ARCSS-Arctic System Science |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
The Arctic Ocean is rapidly losing its summer sea ice cover, leading to anomalous warming of the overlying atmosphere in autumn. Concurrent with this sea ice loss, the Greenland ice sheet has been losing mass recently, with increased surface melt and discharge rates. These changes are of great socioeconomic concern as continued negative trends in the extent of floating sea ice cover and ice sheet mass are likely to have widespread impacts on climate and global sea levels. The investigators propose that the simultaneous decreases in sea ice cover and increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet are connected. On the one hand, both may be largely responding to the same forcing to some degree, such as a generalized warming signal, amplified over the Arctic. On the other hand, it can be hypothesized that sea ice variability, through influences on mixed ocean layer temperatures, overlying air temperatures, column water vapor and atmospheric circulation, influences Greenland ice sheet surface melt and accumulation. Through a combination of data analysis, process studies and modeling, this project seeks to define the interactions between sea ice loss and Greenland ice sheet melt and accumulation. The following major research questions provide a framework for the study: 1) Does sea ice variability influence Greenland ice sheet surface melt (where, when, and how)? 2) What is the nature of storm activity around Greenland in the context of ice and ocean conditions and how might changes in the marine environment influence Greenland surface melt and accumulation in the future? This investigation will take advantage of up-to-date satellite sensor data, in combination with several new atmospheric reanalysis data products, station data and a state-of-the-art regional climate model, performed by a research team who are specialists in regional climate modeling, analysis of geospatial and sequential data analysis, satellite remote sensing and hydroclimatology in the Arctic and Greenland. This project will support students at the University of Colorado, the City College of New York and Rutgers University. The project also includes efforts to recruit undergraduates from underrepresented groups and will support a New Jersey high school teacher to develop lecture plans to be disseminated to a wide audience of K-12 educators at conferences and in journals.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project focused on the impacts of sea ice changes on the Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance. Our evaluations focused on changes in melt as well as changes in precipitaton linked to sea ice changes. On a local scale, sea ice changes around Greenland were found to influence ice sheet melting on the western side of the ice sheet, namely within Baffin Bay and Davis Strait but not elsewhere. When the sea ice would melt earlier than average and open water developed, increased heat and moisture fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere were observed. In order for these fluxes to influence Greenland melt, they would have to be transported to the ice sheet. Typically, the winds flow outward from the ice sheet, prohibiting transport of local ocean-sourced fluxes. However, for the earliest sea ice retreat years the wind revsersed directions, allowing for these moisture and heat fluxes to reach the ice sheet and initiate melt onset.
Sea ice loss also impacts the development for cyclones and how far they may track into the Arctic. These storms bring with them precipitation that may increase snow accumulation on the ice sheet. Storms are particularly active in winter within the North Atlantic, and therefore we investigated how the strength, frequency and northward tracks of these storms is related to summer sea ice loss. While there was no clear increase in frequency and intensity during low sea ice summers, extreme cyclones were found to track further north, with the potential of impacting precipitation on the eastern side of the ice sheet.
On a larger scale, both Greenland melt and summer sea ice loss are tied to similar changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns that have increased the potential for clear skies and warm air in summer, accelerated melt of both regions.
Last Modified: 09/29/2018
Modified by: Julienne C Stroeve
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