Search

Abstract: Comparison of surface velocities measured during the Ross Ice Shelf Geophysical and Glaciological Survey (RIGGS, 1973 to 1978) and velocities measured via feature tracking between two Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) mosaics (compiled from 2003/4 and 2008/9 images) reveals widespread slowing and minor areas of acceleration in the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS) over the approximately 30 year interval. The largest changes ( ) occur near the Whillans and Mercer Ice Streams grounding line in the southernmost part of the ice shelf. Speed has increased over the interval (up to ) between the MacAyeal Ice Stream grounding line and the shelf front, and along the eastern shelf front. Changes in ice thickness computed using ICESat laser altimetry are used together with a well-tested model of the ice shelf to investigate underlying causes of change in the flow of the ice shelf over time. The observed transients represent a combination of recent forcings and ongoing response to ice stream discharge variations over the past millennium. While evidence of older events may be present, the modern signal is dominated by shorter time scale events, including the stagnation of Kamb Ice Stream about 160 years ago, recent changes in basal drag on the Whillans Ice Stream ice plain and, perhaps, iceberg calving. Details in embayment geometry, for example the shallow sea floor below Crary Ice Rise, modulate the spatial pattern of ice shelf response to boundary condition perturbations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A case study illustrating cloud processes and other features associated with the Ross Ice Shelf airstream (RAS), in Antarctica, is presented. The RAS is a semipermanent low-level wind regime primarily over the western Ross Ice Shelf, linked to the midlatitude circulation and formed from terrain-induced and large-scale forcing effects. An integrated approach utilizes Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery, automatic weather station (AWS) data, and Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) forecast output to study the synoptic-scale and mesoscale phenomena involved in cloud formation over the Ross Ice Shelf during a RAS event. A synoptic-scale cyclone offshore of Marie Byrd Land draws moisture across West Antarctica to the southern base of the Ross Ice Shelf. Vertical lifting associated with flow around the Queen Maud Mountains leads to cloud formation that extends across the Ross Ice Shelf to the north. The low-level cloud has a warm signature in thermal infrared imagery, resembling a surface feature of turbulent katabatic flow typically ascribed to the RAS. Strategically placed AWS sites allow assessment of model performance within and outside of the RAS signature. AMPS provides realistic simulation of conditions aloft but experiences problems at low levels due to issues with the model PBL physics. Key meteorological features of this case study, within the context of previous studies on longer time scales, are inferred to be common occurrences. The assumption that warm thermal infrared signatures are surface features is found to be too restrictive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]