A surface mass balance model for the Greenland ice sheet

[1] A surface mass balance model aimed at being coupled to a Global Circulation Model (GCM) for future climate prediction is described and tested for the Greenland Ice Sheet. The model builds on previous modeling designed to be forced by automatic weather station data, and includes surface energy balance as well as processes occurring near the surface such as water percolation and refreezing. Surface albedo is calculated with a new scheme that differentiates the timescale for aging of wet and dry snow and incorporates the effect of a thin layer of water and/or fresh snow at the surface. The model was driven with automatic weather station data from two sites located in the ablation zone in the Kangerlussuaq area ( West Greenland), and calculated reasonable annual mass balance values ( within 10% in seven out of eight cases) for four individual and consecutive years ( 1998 - 2001), using both measured and calculated albedo. This implies that the albedo parameterization is adequate and climate feedbacks affecting the mass balance are well captured. The model was then applied to a distributed 20-km-resolution grid covering the whole ice sheet, and forced with 10 years of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA-40) data. With the aim of coupling the model to a GCM, this study focuses on the ability to model the interannual variability in mass balance rather than to assess the present state of balance of the ice sheet. Modeled spatial and temporal wet zone extent compares well with information derived from passive microwave satellite data.