Cloud-driven modulations of Greenland ice sheet surface melt.

Clouds have been recognized to enhance surface melt on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). However, quantitative estimates of the effects of clouds on the GrIS melt area and ice-sheet-wide surface mass balance are still lacking. Here we assess the effects of clouds with a state-of-the-art regional climate model, conducting a numerical sensitivity test in which adiabatic atmospheric conditions as well as zero cloud water/ice amounts are assumed (i.

Modeling angular-dependent spectral emissivity of snow and ice in the thermal infrared atmospheric window.

A model of angular-dependent emissivity spectra of snow and ice in the 8-14 μm atmospheric window is constructed. Past field research revealed that snow emissivity varies depending on snow grain size and the exitance angle. Thermography images acquired in this study further revealed that not only welded snow particles such as sun crust, but also disaggregated particles such as granular snow and dendrite crystals exhibit high reflectivity on their crystal facets, even when the bulk snow surface exhibits blackbody-like behavior as a whole.