Climate and pro-glacial discharge interactions in the Pakitsoq region of Western Greenland.
Over the past two decades coincident with Arctic climate warming, Greenland’s glaciers have experienced significant volume loss with the resulting discharge substantially contributing to rising sea level. This change has occurred during a period of pronounced variability in regional climatology. However, the meteorological parameters forcing melting have not been well established, as there are few annual records of meltwater discharge directly from glaciers. To test how meltwater production varies in response to climate forcing, a multi-decadal proxy record of meltwater discharge was established for the Paakitsoq basin, Western Greenland and analysed statistically. The hydrological response of the basin changes through time during the spring and summer due to the variations in net radiation and air temperatures but also in snow cover, rainfall and the evolution of the glacier’s hydrological system. The recorded time series of net radiation, air temperature and discharge was broken down into annual, seasonal and monthly time periods and analysed using statistical methods to assess the strength of the relationship between the variables. Correlation models show much stronger relationships between air temperature and discharge than net radiation although the correlations are never strong indicating that there are other variables influencing proglacial discharge regimes. In particular, the glacial hydrological system also only appears to be responsive to diurnal forcing following depletion of the seasonal snowpack
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