Data set: "North Atlantic cooling is slowing down mass loss of Icelandic glaciers"
DOI10.5281/zenodo.5836476Zenodo5836476MaRDI QIDQ6720446FDOQ6720446
Dataset published at Zenodo repository.
Michiel van Den Broeke, Bert Wouters, Finnur Pálsson, Brice Noël, Jan M. Haacker, Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Stef Lhermitte
Publication date: 17 January 2022
Copyright license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
This data set includesthe materials required to reproduce the figures and tables presented in the study: North Atlantic cooling is slowing down mass loss of Icelandic glaciers. The data consist of: 1.Maps of annualsurface mass balance (SMB) ofIcelandic glaciers and ice caps (ICL) from RACMO2.3 at 500 m spatial resolution in NetCDF format. smb_rec.1958-2019.RACMO2.3-ERA.ICL-0.5km.YY.nc: annual cumulative SMB of Icelandic glaciers and ice caps (kg m-2 or mm w.e. per year) from RACMO2.3forced by ERA reanalysesfor theperiod 1958-2019, and further statistically downscaled to 500 m spatial resolution. Forcing includesERA-40 (1958-1978), ERA-Interim (1979-2018) andERA5 (2019) reanalyses. smb_rec.1958-2099.RACMO2.3-CESM2-SSP85.ICL-0.5km.YY.nc:annual cumulative SMB of Icelandic glaciers and ice caps (kg m-2 or mm w.e. per year) from RACMO2.3forced by CESM2 for the historical period 1958-2014 and byCESM2 under a high-end warming scenario SSP5-8.5 for the period 2015-2099, further statistically downscaled to 500m spatial resolution. Topo_icemask_lsm_lon_lat_ICL-0.5km.nc:mask file including an ice mask,land/sea mask and surface topography derived from the ArcticDEM, and longitude/latitude coordinates on the 500m grid. NB: theNetCDF files above use aPolar Stereographic North (EPSG:3413) projection witha horizontalresolution of 500m x 500m. The reference point is located at 45W longitude and 70N latitude. 2.Time series ofannual ICL-integratedSMB components(Gigatons or Gt per year),annual mean 2 m air temperature above Icelandic glaciers and ice caps(T2m; K), annual mean sea surface temperature (SST) in the Northern Blue Blob. These time series are available in ASCII format for the RACMO2.3 simulation forced by ERA reanalyses (1958-2019) and the RACMO2.3 projection forced by CESM2 under a high-end warming scenario SSP5-8.5 (1958-2099). RACMO2.3-ERA SMB-components-RACMO2.3-ERA-1958-2019.txt:time series of annual integrated SMB, snowfall, rainfall, runoff, total melt, refreezing and retention(Gt per year) from the ERA-forced RACMO2.3 simulation (1958-2019). T2m-glacier-RACMO2.3-ERA-1958-2019.txt: time series of annual mean glacier T2m and anomalies relative to the period 1958-1994(K)from the ERA-forced RACMO2.3 simulation (1958-2019). SST-Northern-Blue-Blob-RACMO2.3-ERA-1958-2019.txt:time series of annual mean Northern Blue Blob SST and anomaliesrelative to the period 1958-1994 (K) derived from the ERA reanalyses (1958-2019).The reanalyses includeERA-40 (1958-1978), ERA-Interim (1979-2018) andERA5 (2019). RACMO2.3-CESM2 SMB-components-RACMO2.3-CESM2-SSP85-1958-2099.txt:time series of annual integrated SMB, snowfall, rainfall, runoff, total melt, refreezing and retention(Gt per year) from the CESM2-forced RACMO2.3 projection under a SSP5-8.5 scenario (1958-2099). T2m-glacier-RACMO2.3-CESM2-SSP85-1958-2099.txt:time series of annual mean glacier T2m and anomalies relative to the period 1958-1994 (K)from the CESM2-forced RACMO2.3 projection under a SSP5-8.5 scenario (1958-2099). SST-Northern-Blue-Blob-RACMO2.3-CESM2-SSP85-1958-2099.txt:time series of annual mean Northern Blue Blob SST and anomaliesrelative to the period 1958-1994 (K) derived from the CESM2 projectionunder a SSP5-8.5 scenario (1958-2099). 3.Time series of monthly ICL-integrated SMB (Gt per month) for the period 1958-2099. SMB-monthly-RACMO2.3-1958-2099.txt: time series of monthly integrated SMB (Gt per month) combiningRACMO2.3-ERA (January 1958 - December 2019) withRACMO2.3-CESM2 under a SSP5-8.5 scenario (January 2020 - December 2099) at 500 m horizontal resolution. The dailydownscaled SMBdata sets from the ERA-forced RACMO2.3 simulation and the CESM2-forced RACMO2.3 projection under aSSP5-8.5 scenarioare freely available from the authors upon request and without conditions (contact:b.p.y.noel@uu.nl). Besides SMB, the data sets includedaily total precipitation (snow and rain), snowfall, total melt (snow and ice), runoff, refreezing and retention, total sublimation (surface and drifting snow),snow drift erosion, as well as 2 m air temperatureat 500 m horizontal resolution. Abstract:Icelandic glaciers have been losing mass since the Little Ice Age in the mid-to-late 1800s, with higher mass loss rates in the early 21st century, followed by a slowdown since 2011. As of yet, it remains unclear whether this mass loss slowdown will persist in the future. By reconstructing the contemporary (1958-2019) surface mass balance of Icelandic glaciers, we show that the post-2011 mass loss slowdown coincides with the development of the Blue Blob, an area of regional cooling in the North Atlantic Ocean to the south of Greenland. This regional cooling signal mitigates atmospheric warming in Iceland since 2011, in turn decreasing glacier mass loss through reduced meltwater runoff. In a future high-end warming scenario, North Atlantic cooling is projected to mitigate mass loss of Icelandic glaciers until the mid-2050s. High mass loss rates resume thereafter as the regional cooling signal weakens.
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