2024-11-21 All-Hands Presentation Meeting Notes

The Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance in E3SM

Chloe Whicker-Clarke
University of California, Irvine

Abstract:

It is increasingly important to accurately simulate the surface mass balance (SMB) and surface energy budget (SEB) of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) and Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS), as their contributions to sea level rise have grown over the past few decades and are expected to continue under a warming climate.

In this talk, I will provide background on E3SM and FAnSSIE’s goals of improving the E3SM Land Model (ELM), the ocean model (MPAS-Ocean), and the ice sheet model (MALI), as well as the coupling between these components to enhance projections of ice sheet sensitivity and understanding of potential cryospheric tipping points. The focus of this presentation will be on improvements made to snow, firn, and ice physics in ELM over the past five years.

These model advancements include a new snowpack scheme with an improved densification model, more accurate atmospheric forcing data, and enhanced representations of bare ice albedo and snow thermal conductivity. I will present results comparing ELM-simulated SMB and SEB to a regional model and observations. This talk will also summarize how these improvements were achieved, highlight new analysis tools for the GIS and AIS, and outline the next steps informed by this work.

Date 21 Nov 2024 

Time

• PT: 8:30 am
• ET: 11:30 am

Call Info

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