Articles | Volume 13, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019
Research article
 | 
30 Aug 2019
Research article |  | 30 Aug 2019

Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events

Thomas J. Ballinger, Thomas L. Mote, Kyle Mattingly, Angela C. Bliss, Edward Hanna, Dirk van As, Melissa Prieto, Saeideh Gharehchahi, Xavier Fettweis, Brice Noël, Paul C. J. P. Smeets, Carleen H. Reijmer, Mads H. Ribergaard, and John Cappelen

Data sets

Arctic sea ice seasonal change and melt/freeze climate indictors from satellite data M. Steele, A. C. Bliss, G. Peng, W. N. Meier, and S. Dickinson https://doi.org/10.5067/KINANQKEZI4T

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Short summary
Arctic sea ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) are melting later in the year due to a warming climate. Through analyses of weather station, climate model, and reanalysis data, physical links are evaluated between Baffin Bay open water duration and western GrIS melt conditions. We show that sub-Arctic air mass movement across this portion of the GrIS strongly influences late summer and autumn melt, while near-surface, off-ice winds inhibit westerly atmospheric heat transfer from Baffin Bay.