Clouds and Blocking: Snowfall Processes Over the Greenland Ice Sheet

Claire Pettersen

Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tuesday, Jul 06, 2021, 2:00 pm
Webinar

Abstract

The Greenland Ice Sheet gains mass primarily through snowfall processes. However, the large-scale dynamics leading to snowfall atop the high plateau of central Greenland are not well understood. This talk explores the spatial and seasonal patterns of snowfall over the Greenland Ice Sheet as well as the characteristics of the clouds from which the snow originates. Additionally, we find that blocking of the mean atmospheric flow by persistent and stationary anticyclones in the Euro-Atlantic region is key in the steering and advection of warm, moist air masses towards central Greenland. Euro-Atlantic blocking is associated with 84% (79%) of summer (autumn) snowfall events over central Greenland. We find that the location of the blocked flow, the routes of the warm, moist air masses, and the cloud and snowfall processes are seasonally dependent.