Climate of Greenland

The present climate of Greenland, especially that for the ice sheet is investigated. The climate and its effect on the mass balance is given the first priority, to understand the effect of the ice sheet on the global sea-level. To reach this goal, the following processes are the objectives of the intense study: atmospheric water vapour budget, accumulation, surface heat budget, structure of the boundary layer which results in katabatic wind and surface turbulent heat fluxes. The radiative processes as the most significant heat source are in detail investigated. These process-oriented studies are expected to contribute to the improvement of the atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) and the capability of future sea-level simulation. The project has also a long-term component to detect important variations in the radiation field,such as changing atmospheric optical depth in solar radiation and in potential increase in the longwave counter radiatiopn in the future.

1. The mass balance of Greenland
2. The energy exchange at the atmosphere/ice interface, and
3. The structure of the stable boundary layer
4. The katabatic wind on Greenland
5. The sensitivity of the polar ice caps to anthropogenic climate changes

Contact: Pierluigi Calanca, Atsumu Ohmura