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CRYOMET - Bridging models for the terrestrial cryosphere and the atmosphere (completed)

About the project

This interdisciplinary project seeks to bridge the scale gap between coarsely-resolved Earth System Models (ESM) providing climate projections for the 21st century and finely-resolved land surface models, which are used to evaluate glacier mass balance, snow distribution and the ground thermal regime (permafrost).

CRYOMET will address the development of dynamic up- and downscaling procedures for surface processes, with a particular focus on the effects of snow on the surface energy balance. Such procedures are required to provide sound predictions for the response of the terrestrial cryosphere to future climate change.

Objectives

The objectives of the CRYOMET project are to:

  • validate the PolarWRF land surface scheme using energy flux measurements
  • provide downscaled data sets of cryosphere variables with Polar WRF
  • use snow distribution models to facilitate further probabilistic downscaling of the snow cover
  • assess the use of probability density functions for snow in permafrost and glacier mass balance models
  • improve the understanding of  the cryosphere feedback on the atmosphere by testing upscaling schemes for the surface energy balance in Polar WRF

Outcomes

CRYOMET is a basic research project. Direct deliverables from the project will be in the form of scientific dissemination, which will be done through the two PhD theses or Postdoc. work, and publications in peer-reviewed journals. In addition the project results will be presented during national and international conferences.

From the project we will provide the basis for possible spin-off products. First, the evaluation and validation with different land surface schemes in our field sites will give the data bases to understand climate feed-back mechanisms and ultimately improve weather forecasts and climate projections at high latitudes.

Secondly, the work will form the basis for a future high-resolution gridded data set for Svalbard, covering climate parameters such as air temperature, precipitation and snow cover. Such data sets are available for Norway based on interpolation between met-stations (senorge.no), and are highly valuable for coupling climate conditions with other processes, e.g. spatially refined model representations of both the thermal regime of permafrost and glacier mass balance for several areas on Svalbard. Finally, the project will form the basis for improved projections of climate impact on the cryosphere in Arctic and high latitude mountain environments.

Background

The project is in cooperation between Section for Physical Geography and Hydrology (GEOHYD) and the Section for Meteorology and Oceanography (METOS), both at Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo.

The GEOHYD section has longterm experience in investigating the climate impact on the terrestrial cryosphere (snow, glaciers, permafrost) and is involved in various high-level research projects and centers.

The MetOs section carries out research on various physical, dynamical and chemical aspects of the climate system, often in the context of climate change. Important tools in this research are e.g. earth system models, regional atmospheric models and advanced satellite data.

Financing

The project 'CRYOMET - Bridging models for the terrestrial cryosphere and the atmosphere ' is financed by the Research Council of Norway, with the project number  214465.

The project period for CRYOMET is from 1.1.2012 to 31.12.2015.

Cooperation

Resources

WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting Model)

 

Publications

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  • Gisnås, Kjersti; Westermann, Sebastian; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Schuler, Thomas; Isaksen, Ketil & Litherland, Tobias [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2014). A probabilistic approach to represent small-scale variability of permafrost temperatures due to snow cover.
  • Gisnås, Kjersti; Westermann, Sebastian; Schuler, Thomas & Etzelmuller, Bernd (2014). Towards Inclusion of Sub-grid Variability of Snow in Distributed Permafrost Models.
  • Gisnås, Kjersti; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Christiansen, Hanne H; Elberling, Bo; Engström, Jonas & Hjort, Jan [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2014). A First Nordic Permafrost Map for Norway, Sweden and Finland.
  • Aas, Kjetil Schanke; Dunse, Thorben; Collier, Emily; Schuler, Thomas; Kohler, Jack & Berntsen, Terje Koren (2014). Simulating the Climatic Mass Balance of Svalbard Glaciers from 2003 to 2014 Using a Coupled Atmosphere and Climatic Mass-Balance Model.
  • Østby, Torbjørn; Schuler, Thomas & Westermann, Sebastian (2013). Quality assessment of MODIS land surface temperatures over an Arctic ice cap.
  • Westermann, Sebastian; Berntsen, Terje; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Gisnås, Kjersti; Hagen, Jon Ove Methlie & Kristjansson, Jon Egill [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2013). The CryoMet project - combining deterministic and probabilistic downscaling to model snow depth over a wide range of scales.
  • Westermann, Sebastian; Langer, Moritz; Heikenfeld, Max & Boike, Julia (2013). CryoGrid 3 – a new flexible tool for permafrost modeling.
  • Gisnås, Kjersti; Westermann, Sebastian; Etzelmuller, Bernd & Schuler, Thomas (2013). From Snow Depth Distribution to Small-Scale Variability of Soil Temperatures.
  • Vikhamar Schuler, Dagrun; Schuler, Thomas; Morin, Samuel; Lafayasse, M. & Boike, Julia (2013). Using the land surface model SURFEX/ISBA-Crocus to simulate ground temperatures in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard.
  • Litherland, Tobias; Gisnås, Kjersti & Schuler, Thomas (2013). HIGH- RESOLUTION SNOW DISTRIBUTION MODELLING IN ALPINE NORWAY.
  • Schuler, Thomas; Dunse, Thorben; Eiken, Trond & Hagen, Jon Ove Methlie (2013). Considering orographic enhancement to downscale precipitation: resolving the accumulation asymmetry and deriving a 55 year accumulation history of Austfonna, Svalbard.
  • Aas, Kjetil Schanke; Berntsen, Terje Koren; Boike, Julia; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Kristjansson, Jon Egill & Schuler, Thomas [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2013). Observed and simulated surface energy budget at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.
  • Aas, Kjetil Schanke; Berntsen, Terje Koren; Boike, Julia; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Kristjansson, Jon Egill & Schuler, Thomas [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2013). Observert og simulert bakke-energibalanse på Svalbard.
  • Aas, Kjetil Schanke; Berntsen, Terje Koren; Boike, Julia; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Kristjansson, Jon Egill & Schuler, Thomas [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2013). Observed and simulated SEB at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.
  • Dunse, Thorben; Schuler, Thomas; Hagen, Jon Ove Methlie & Eiken, Trond (2013). Ground-based monitoring of snowcover, firn area and glacier facies of Austfonna, Svalbard, to validate and improve PolarWRF climate simulations.
  • Østby, Torbjørn; Schuler, Thomas & Westermann, Sebastian (2013). Quality assessment of MODIS land surface temperatures over an Arctic ice cap,Svalbard.
  • Etzelmuller, Bernd; Westermann, Sebastian; Berntsen, Terje Koren; Gisnås, Kjersti; Hagen, Jon Ove Methlie & Kristjansson, Jon Egill [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2013). Bridging models for the terrestrial cryosphere and the atmosphere - The CryoMET project.
  • Etzelmuller, Bernd; Christiansen, H.H.; Gisnås, Kjersti; Isaksen, Ketil; Schuler, Thomas & Westermann, Sebastian (2013). GROUND THERMAL REGIME AND ACTIVE LAYER THICKNESS MONITORING AND MODELLING IN THE NORDIC AREA.
  • Gisnås, Kjersti; Westermann, Sebastian; Hipp, Tobias Florian; Etzelmuller, Bernd & Schuler, Thomas (2012). From Snow Depth Distribution to Small-Scale Variability of Soil Temperatures –a Probabilistic View on Permafrost in Norway.
  • Westermann, Sebastian; Lilleøren, Karianne Staalesen; Schuler, Thomas; Gisnås, Kjersti & Etzelmuller, Bernd (2012). Towards operational permafrost modelling for Norway.
  • Westermann, Sebastian; Gisnås, Kjersti; Schuler, Thomas & Etzelmuller, Bernd (2012). Towards operational permafrost monitoring in Norway.
  • Østby, Torbjørn; Schuler, Thomas & Westermann, Sebastian (2012). Quality assessment of MODIS land surface temperatures over an Arctic ice cap.
  • Westermann, Sebastian; Berntsen, Terje Koren; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Gisnås, Kjersti; Hagen, Jon Ove Methlie & Kristjansson, Jon Egill [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2012). The CryoMET project – combining deterministic and probabilistic downscaling to model snow depth over a wide range of scales.
  • Aas, Kjetil Schanke; Berntsen, Terje Koren; Westermann, Sebastian & Etzelmuller, Bernd (2012). Observations and plans for simulations of surface energy balance on Svalbard, Norway.
  • Østby, Torbjørn & Dunse, Thorben (2012). Glaciological research on Svalbard.
  • Østby, Torbjørn; Schuler, Thomas; Hagen, Jon Ove Methlie; Hock, Regine & Reijmer, Carleen (2012). The role of subsurface heat exchange: energy partitioning at Austfonna ice cap, Svalbard, over 2004-2008.

View all works in Cristin

Tags: Cryopshere, ESM, Permafrost, Glacier, Glacier mass balance, Ground temperatures, Snow
Published June 8, 2012 1:30 PM - Last modified Sep. 8, 2022 12:24 PM

Contact

Bernd Etzelmüller, Professor (GEOHYD)

Participants

Detailed list of participants