Impact of Refreezing on the Mass Balance of all Glaciers in Svalbard in a Past, Present and Future Climate

Sammanfattning

The Arctic climate is changing fast, and Svalbard is one place that shows major evidence of climate change. Refreezing of meltwater is one process that can delay mass loss through runoff by water retention. It can act as a storage and is an important part of the total surface mass balance. Until now, no study has quantified the impact refreezing has on the surface mass balance and that is why the purpose of this study is to model the surface mass balance of all glaciers in Svalbard and compare it to a model that excludes the refreezing. This will show both the direct effect and indirect effect refreezing has on the surface mass balance. To be able to do this, a coupled model by Van Pelt and others (2012) was used. The result shows that refreezing has a considerable effect on the surface mass balance. If the refreezing is turned off, this negatively affects the surface mass balance. The indirect effect is shown to always be negative meaning that the mass loss (additional melting after refreezing) counteracts some of the mass gains (melt water retention). In conclusion is it thus important to recognize all the effects refreezing has on the surface mass balance.