Elizabeth M. Morris

A new Snow-SVAT to simulate the accumulation and ablation of seasonal snow cover beneath a forest canopy

A new snow-soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer (Snow-SVAT) scheme, which simulates the accumulation and ablation of the snow cover beneath a forest canopy, is presented. The model was formulated by coupling a canopy optical and thermal radiation model to a physically based multi-layer snow model. This canopy radiation model is physically based yet requires few parameters, so can be used when extensive in situ field measurements are not available. Other forest effects such as the reduction of wind speed, interception of snow on the canopy and the deposition of litter were incorporated within this combined model, SNOWCAN, which was tested with data taken as part of the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) international collaborative experiment. Snow depths beneath four different canopy types and at an open site were simulated. Agreement between observed and simulated snow depths was generally good, with correlation coefficients ranging between r(2) = 0.94 and r(2) = 0.98 for all sites where automatic measurements were available. However, the simulated date of total snowpack ablation generally occurred later than the observed date. A comparison between simulated solar radiation and limited measurements of sub-canopy radiation at one site indicates that the model simulates the sub-canopy downwelling solar radiation early in the season to within measurement uncertainty.

Density measurements in ice boreholes using neutron scattering

This paper describes the use of a neutron probe tomeasure detailed stratigraphy in ice and snow.TheWallingford neutron probe, developed for measurement of soil moisture, consists of an annular radioactive source of fast neutrons around the centre of a cylindrical detector for slow (thermal) neutrons. In snow and ice, the fast neutrons lose energy by scattering from hydrogen atoms, and the number of slow neutrons arriving at the detector (the count rate) is related to the density of the medium. Calibration equations for count rate as a function of snow density and borehole diameter have been derived. Snow-density profiles from boreholes obtained using the probe show that, despite the smoothing produced by the neutron-scattering process, annual variations in density can be resolved. The potential contribution of the neutron probe to improvements in mass-balance monitoring is discussed.

Importance of seasonal and annual layers in controlling backscatter to radar altimeters across the percolation zone of an ice sheet

Radar altimeters are one of the main tools for measuring elevation changes across the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and larger ice caps. A ground-based radar was deployed in autumn 2004 and spring 2006 in the percolation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This radar is a high bandwidth system operating in the Ku band, the same frequency as several satellite altimeters. Measurements were made over an elevation range of 1795 to 2350 m, along with snow pit and shallow core studies. These measurements demonstrate the spatial and temporal variations in the backscatter. Relative strengths of surface and volume reflections change dramatically between spring and autumn and there is also high spatial variability across the percolation zone. The extent of percolation will affect elevation estimates made by radar altimeters.

Borehole optical stratigraphy and neutron-scattering density measurements at Summit, Greenland

We have made side-by-side measurements in several boreholes at Summit, Greenland, using borehole optical stratigraphy (BOS) and neutron-scattering density logging techniques. The BOS logs show strong positive correlation at shallow depths with neutron-scattering logs taken in the same borehole. This supports the hypothesis that BOS detects changes in density. The positive correlation between returned brightness and density decreases with depth and finally becomes negative. We conclude this inversion of correlation is related to changes in densification regime from grain-boundary sliding to pressure sintering.

The Radiative Effect of a Fir Canopy on a Snowpack

Abstract Models of snow processes in areas of possible large-scale change need to be site independent and physically based. Here, the accumulation and ablation of the seasonal snow cover beneath a fir canopy has been simulated with a new physically based snow–soil vegetation–atmosphere transfer scheme (Snow-SVAT) called SNOWCAN. The model was formulated by coupling a canopy optical and thermal radiation model to a physically based multilayer snow model. Simple representations of other forest effects were included. These include the reduction of wind speed and hence turbulent transfer beneath the canopy, sublimation of intercepted snow, and deposition of debris on the surface. This paper tests this new modeling approach fully at a fir site within Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed, Idaho. Model parameters were determined at an open site and subsequently applied to the fir site. SNOWCAN was evaluated using measurements of snow depth, subcanopy solar and thermal radiation, and snowpack profiles of tempera...

Densification of polar snow: Measurements, modeling, and implications for altimetry

Density profiles in the upper 10–14 m of snow have been measured along a 500 km traverse across the Greenland ice sheet, using a neutron scattering technique. Repeat measurements, over periods ranging from a few days to 5 years, allow strain rates to be determined as a function of depth. Very large strain rates are observed in the surface layer of snow over summer periods. In the underlying multiyear snow, strain rate decreases with decreasing porosity. However, once this effect has been removed, the effect of increasing overburden pressure is counteracted by increasing strength of the material. There are fluctuations in strain rate associated with the annual layering, which indicate that winter and summer snow have different strengths. Based on these observations, we derive a new densification equation which includes the effect of snow density and snow type, and the effect of temperature, described by an Arrhenius expression with activation energy of the order of 110 kJ mol−1 and an exponential prefactor determined simply by the temperature history of the snow. For multiyear snow and meteorological conditions that do not vary from year to year, our equation reduces to a form similar to the Herron and Langway equation for first-stage densification. Using the new equation, we calculate the sensitivity of compaction rate to short-term fluctuations in temperature and accumulation as 0.11–0.20 m a−1 K−1 and 0.33–0.95 m a−1(meters water equivalent)−1, respectively, and discuss the consequent uncertainty in satellite measurements of the long-term elevation trend in this area of the Greenland ice sheet.

Effects of switching from a reduced dose imiglucerase to velaglucerase in type 1 Gaucher disease: clinical and biochemical outcomes

This paper describes the effects of a switch to velaglucerase alfa in a group of adult patients with type 1 Gaucher disease, all of whom had previously had their dose reduced as a consequence of the worldwide imiglucerase shortage. Thirty-two patients from two large European Gaucher centers switched to treatment with velaglucerase alfa after 1-8.5 months of dose reduction. The course of important Gaucher disease parameters was studied at four time points: one year before the shortage, just before the shortage, before a switch to velaglucerase and after up to one year of treatment with velaglucerase. These parameters included hemoglobin concentration, platelet count, plasma chitotriosidase activity in all patients, and spleen and liver volumes (as well as bone marrow fat fraction images) in 10 patients. Decreases in platelet counts as a result of reduced treatment with imiglucerase were quickly restored on treatment with velaglucerase alfa. Chitotriosidase activity declined overall after switching. Five out of 10 patients had an increase in liver volume of at least 10% after six months of velaglucerase treatment, which was reversible in 3. Most patients received infusions at home and no important side effects were observed. Velaglucerase alfa appears to be a safe and effective alternative for imiglucerase.

Modelling temperature variations in polar snow using DAISY

A physics-based snow model has been calibrated using data collected at Halley Bay, Antarctica, during the International Geophysical Year. Variations in snow temperature and density are well-simulated using values for the model parameters within the range reported from other polar field experiments. The effect of uncertainty in the parameter values on the accuracy of the predictions is no greater than the effect of instrumental error in the input data. Thus, this model can be used with parameters determined a priori rather than by optimization. The model has been validated using an independent data set from Halley Bay and then used to estimate 10 m temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula plateau over the last half-century.

Rapid techniques for determining annual accumulation applied at Summit, Greenland

We have determined accumulation histories by identifying annual-layer horizons in records obtained by three independent methods: (1) glaciochemical analysis on a core, (2) density profiling in the borehole from which the core was taken, using the neutron-probe (NP) technique, and (3) borehole optical stratigraphy (BOS), again in the same borehole. We also used three different techniques for determining density to convert annual-layer thickness to accumulation: (1) gravimetric measurements on core samples, (2) measurement of density using NP and (3) a simple empirical model based on regional climatology. The result is nine different accumulation time series, three of which are completely independent. The chemical-analysis- and NP-derived accumulation time series are correlated, and the ∼70year means are in agreement. The BOS-derived accumulation ∼70 year mean is slightly lower, probably due to a combination of the empirical density models underestimate of the density profile and the misidentification of sub-annual events in the shallow part of the borehole as annual horizons.

Techniques for measuring high-resolution firn density profiles: case study from Kongsvegen, Svalbard

On an 11 m firn/ice core from Kongsvegen, Svalbard, we have used dielectric profiling (DEP) to measure electrical properties, and digital photography to measure a core optical stratigraphy (COS) profile. We also used a neutron-scattering probe (NP) to measure a density profile in the borehole from which the core was extracted. The NP- and DEP-derived density profiles were similar, showing large- scale (>30 cm) variation in the gravimetric densities of each core section. Fine-scale features (<10 cm) are well characterized by the COS record and are seen at a slightly lower resolution in both the DEP and NP records, which show increasing smoothing. A combination of the density accuracy of NP and the spatial resolution of COS provides a useful method of evaluating the shallow-density profile of a glacier, improving paleoclimate interpretation, mass-balance measurement and interpretation of radar returns.