@article{12007, abstract = {The Tibetan plateau (TP) plays an important role in the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) dynamics as a heat source during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. A significant contribution to the pre-monsoon TP heating comes from the sensible heat flux (SHF), which depend on the surface properties. A glaciated surface would have a different SHF compared to a non-glaciated surface. Therefore, the TP glaciers potentially can also impact the hydrological cycle in the Asian continent by impacting the ASM rainfall via its contribution to the total plateau heating. However, there is no assessment of this putative link available. Here, we attempt to qualitatively study the role of TP glaciers on ASM by analyzing the sensitivity of an atmospheric model to the absence of TP glaciers. We find that the absence of the glaciers is most felt in climatologically less snowy regions (which are mostly located at the south-central boundary of the TP during the pre-monsoon season), which leads to positive SHF anomalies. The resulting positive diabatic heating leads to rising air in the eastern TP and sinking air in the western TP. This altered circulation in turn leads to a positive SHF memory in the western TP, which persists until the end of the monsoon season. The impact of SHF anomalies on diabatic heating results in a large-scale subsidence over the ASM domain. The net result is a reduced seasonal ASM rainfall. Given the relentless warming and the vulnerability of glaciers to warming, this is another flag in the ASM variability and change that needs further attention.}, author = {GOSWAMI, BIDYUT B and An, Soon-Il and Murtugudde, Raghu}, issn = {0165-0009}, journal = {Climatic Change}, keywords = {Atmospheric Science, Global and Planetary Change}, number = {3-4}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Role of the Tibetan plateau glaciers in the Asian summer monsoon}}, doi = {10.1007/s10584-022-03426-8}, volume = {173}, year = {2022}, } @article{12583, abstract = {Peruvian glaciers are important contributors to dry season runoff for agriculture and hydropower, but they are at risk of disappearing due to climate change. We applied a physically based, energy balance melt model at five on-glacier sites within the Peruvian Cordilleras Blanca and Vilcanota. Net shortwave radiation dominates the energy balance, and despite this flux being higher in the dry season, melt rates are lower due to losses from net longwave radiation and the latent heat flux. The sensible heat flux is a relatively small contributor to melt energy. At three of the sites the wet season snowpack was discontinuous, forming and melting within a daily to weekly timescale, and resulting in highly variable melt rates closely related to precipitation dynamics. Cold air temperatures due to a strong La Niña year at Shallap Glacier (Cordillera Blanca) resulted in a continuous wet season snowpack, significantly reducing wet season ablation. Sublimation was most important at the highest site in the accumulation zone of the Quelccaya Ice Cap (Cordillera Vilcanota), accounting for 81% of ablation, compared to 2%–4% for the other sites. Air temperature and precipitation inputs were perturbed to investigate the climate sensitivity of the five glaciers. At the lower sites warmer air temperatures resulted in a switch from snowfall to rain, so that ablation was increased via the decrease in albedo and increase in net shortwave radiation. At the top of Quelccaya Ice Cap warming caused melting to replace sublimation so that ablation increased nonlinearly with air temperature.}, author = {Fyffe, Catriona L. and Potter, Emily and Fugger, Stefan and Orr, Andrew and Fatichi, Simone and Loarte, Edwin and Medina, Katy and Hellström, Robert Å. and Bernat, Maud and Aubry‐Wake, Caroline and Gurgiser, Wolfgang and Perry, L. Baker and Suarez, Wilson and Quincey, Duncan J. and Pellicciotti, Francesca}, issn = {2169-8996}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, keywords = {Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Atmospheric Science, Geophysics}, number = {23}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{The energy and mass balance of Peruvian Glaciers}}, doi = {10.1029/2021jd034911}, volume = {126}, year = {2021}, } @article{9129, abstract = {We investigate the role of a warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly (hot spot of typically 3 to 5 K) on the aggregation of convection using cloud-resolving simulations in a nonrotating framework. It is well known that SST gradients can spatially organize convection. Even with uniform SST, the spontaneous self-aggregation of convection is possible above a critical SST (here 295 K), arising mainly from radiative feedbacks. We investigate how a circular hot spot helps organize convection, and how self-aggregation feedbacks modulate this organization. The hot spot significantly accelerates aggregation, particularly for warmer/larger hot spots, and extends the range of SSTs for which aggregation occurs; however, at cold SST (290 K) the aggregated cluster disaggregates if we remove the hot spot. A large convective instability over the hot spot leads to stronger convection and generates a large-scale circulation which forces the subsidence drying outside the hot spot. Indeed, convection over the hot spot brings the atmosphere toward a warmer temperature. The warmer temperatures are imprinted over the whole domain by gravity waves and subsidence warming. The initial transient warming and concomitant subsidence drying suppress convection outside the hot spot, thus driving the aggregation. The hot-spot-induced large-scale circulation can enforce the aggregation even without radiative feedbacks for hot spots sufficiently large/warm. The strength of the large-scale circulation, which defines the speed of aggregation, is a function of the hot spot fractional area. At equilibrium, once the aggregation is well established, the moist convective region with upward midtropospheric motion, centered over the hot spot, has an area surprisingly independent of the hot spot size.}, author = {Shamekh, Sara and Muller, Caroline J and Duvel, Jean-Philippe and D’Andrea, Fabio}, issn = {0022-4928}, journal = {Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences}, keywords = {Atmospheric Science}, number = {11}, pages = {3733--3745}, publisher = {American Meteorological Society}, title = {{How do ocean warm anomalies favor the aggregation of deep convective clouds?}}, doi = {10.1175/jas-d-18-0369.1}, volume = {77}, year = {2020}, } @article{9136, abstract = {In this study we investigate the scaling of precipitation extremes with temperature in the Mediterranean region by assessing against observations the present day and future regional climate simulations performed in the frame of the HyMeX and MED-CORDEX programs. Over the 1979–2008 period, despite differences in quantitative precipitation simulation across the various models, the change in precipitation extremes with respect to temperature is robust and consistent. The spatial variability of the temperature–precipitation extremes relationship displays a hook shape across the Mediterranean, with negative slope at high temperatures and a slope following Clausius–Clapeyron (CC)-scaling at low temperatures. The temperature at which the slope of the temperature–precipitation extreme relation sharply changes (or temperature break), ranges from about 20 °C in the western Mediterranean to <10 °C in Greece. In addition, this slope is always negative in the arid regions of the Mediterranean. The scaling of the simulated precipitation extremes is insensitive to ocean–atmosphere coupling, while it depends very weakly on the resolution at high temperatures for short precipitation accumulation times. In future climate scenario simulations covering the 2070–2100 period, the temperature break shifts to higher temperatures by a value which is on average the mean regional temperature change due to global warming. The slope of the simulated future temperature–precipitation extremes relationship is close to CC-scaling at temperatures below the temperature break, while at high temperatures, the negative slope is close, but somewhat flatter or steeper, than in the current climate depending on the model. Overall, models predict more intense precipitation extremes in the future. Adjusting the temperature–precipitation extremes relationship in the present climate using the CC law and the temperature shift in the future allows the recovery of the temperature–precipitation extremes relationship in the future climate. This implies negligible regional changes of relative humidity in the future despite the large warming and drying over the Mediterranean. This suggests that the Mediterranean Sea is the primary source of moisture which counteracts the drying and warming impacts on relative humidity in parts of the Mediterranean region.}, author = {Drobinski, Philippe and Silva, Nicolas Da and Panthou, Gérémy and Bastin, Sophie and Muller, Caroline J and Ahrens, Bodo and Borga, Marco and Conte, Dario and Fosser, Giorgia and Giorgi, Filippo and Güttler, Ivan and Kotroni, Vassiliki and Li, Laurent and Morin, Efrat and Önol, Bariş and Quintana-Segui, Pere and Romera, Raquel and Torma, Csaba Zsolt}, issn = {0930-7575}, journal = {Climate Dynamics}, keywords = {Atmospheric Science}, number = {3}, pages = {1237--1257}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Scaling precipitation extremes with temperature in the Mediterranean: Past climate assessment and projection in anthropogenic scenarios}}, doi = {10.1007/s00382-016-3083-x}, volume = {51}, year = {2018}, } @article{12631, abstract = {Air temperature is one of the most relevant input variables for snow and ice melt calculations. However, local meteorological conditions, complex topography, and logistical concerns in glacierized regions make the measuring and modeling of air temperature a difficult task. In this study, we investigate the spatial distribution of 2 m air temperature over mountain glaciers and propose a modification to an existing model to improve its representation. Spatially distributed meteorological data from Haut Glacier d'Arolla (Switzerland), Place (Canada), and Juncal Norte (Chile) Glaciers are used to examine approximate flow line temperatures during their respective ablation seasons. During warm conditions (off-glacier temperatures well above 0°C), observed air temperatures in the upper reaches of Place Glacier and Haut Glacier d'Arolla decrease down glacier along the approximate flow line. At Juncal Norte and Haut Glacier d'Arolla, an increase in air temperature is observed over the glacier tongue. While the temperature behavior over the upper part can be explained by the cooling effect of the glacier surface, the temperature increase over the glacier tongue may be caused by several processes induced by the surrounding warm atmosphere. In order to capture the latter effect, we add an additional term to the Greuell and Böhm (GB) thermodynamic glacier wind model. For high off-glacier temperatures, the modified GB model reduces root-mean-square error up to 32% and provides a new approach for distributing air temperature over mountain glaciers as a function of off-glacier temperatures and approximate glacier flow lines.}, author = {Ayala, A. and Pellicciotti, Francesca and Shea, J. M.}, issn = {2169-8996}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, keywords = {Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Atmospheric Science, Geophysics}, number = {8}, pages = {3139--3157}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{Modeling 2 m air temperatures over mountain glaciers: Exploring the influence of katabatic cooling and external warming}}, doi = {10.1002/2015jd023137}, volume = {120}, year = {2015}, } @article{9154, abstract = {In this study the response of tropical precipitation extremes to warming in organized convection is examined using a cloud-resolving model. Vertical shear is imposed to organize the convection into squall lines. Earlier studies show that in disorganized convection, the fractional increase of precipitation extremes is similar to that of surface water vapor, which is substantially smaller than the increase in column water vapor. It has been suggested that organized convection could lead to stronger amplifications. Regardless of the strength of the shear, amplifications of precipitation extremes in the cloud-resolving simulations are comparable to those of surface water vapor and are substantially less than increases in column water vapor. The results without shear and with critical shear, for which the squall lines are perpendicular to the shear, are surprisingly similar with a fractional rate of increase of precipitation extremes slightly smaller than that of surface water vapor. Interestingly, the dependence on shear is nonmonotonic, and stronger supercritical shear yields larger rates, close to or slightly larger than surface humidity. A scaling is used to evaluate the thermodynamic and dynamic contributions to precipitation extreme changes. To first order, they are dominated by the thermodynamic component, which has the same magnitude for all shears, close to the change in surface water vapor. The dynamic contribution plays a secondary role and tends to weaken extremes without shear and with critical shear, while it strengthens extremes with supercritical shear. These different dynamic contributions for different shears are due to different responses of convective mass fluxes in individual updrafts to warming.}, author = {Muller, Caroline J}, issn = {0894-8755}, journal = {Journal of Climate}, keywords = {Atmospheric Science}, number = {14}, pages = {5028--5043}, publisher = {American Meteorological Society}, title = {{Impact of convective organization on the response of tropical precipitation extremes to warming}}, doi = {10.1175/jcli-d-12-00655.1}, volume = {26}, year = {2013}, } @article{12643, abstract = {Parameterizations of incoming longwave radiation are increasingly receiving attention for both low and high elevation glacierized sites. In this paper, we test 13 clear-sky parameterizations combined with seven cloud corrections for all-sky atmospheric emissivity at one location on Haut Glacier d'Arolla. We also analyze the four seasons separately and conduct a cross-validation to test the parameters’ robustness. The best parameterization is the one by Dilley and O'Brien, B for clear-sky conditions combined with Unsworth and Monteith cloud correction. This model is also the most robust when tested in cross-validation. When validated at different sites in the southern Alps of Switzerland and north-western Italian Alps, all parameterizations show a substantial decrease in performance, except for one site, thus suggesting that it is important to recalibrate parameterizations of incoming longwave radiation for different locations. We argue that this is due to differences in the structure of the atmosphere at the sites. We also quantify the effect that the incoming longwave radiation parameterizations have on energy-balance melt modeling, and show that recalibration of model parameters is needed. Using parameters from other sites leads to a significant underestimation of melt and to an error that is larger than that associated with using different parameterizations. Once recalibrated, however, the parameters of most models seem to be stable over seasons and years at the location on Haut Glacier d'Arolla.}, author = {Juszak, I. and Pellicciotti, Francesca}, issn = {2169-897X}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, keywords = {Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Atmospheric Science, Geophysics}, number = {8}, pages = {3066--3084}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{A comparison of parameterizations of incoming longwave radiation over melting glaciers: Model robustness and seasonal variability}}, doi = {10.1002/jgrd.50277}, volume = {118}, year = {2013}, } @article{9142, abstract = {In models of radiative–convective equilibrium it is known that convection can spontaneously aggregate into one single localized moist region if the domain is large enough. The large changes in the mean climate state and radiative fluxes accompanying this self-aggregation raise questions as to what simulations at lower resolutions with parameterized convection, in similar homogeneous geometries, should be expected to produce to be considered successful in mimicking a cloud-resolving model. The authors investigate this self-aggregation in a nonrotating, three-dimensional cloud-resolving model on a square domain without large-scale forcing. It is found that self-aggregation is sensitive not only to the domain size, but also to the horizontal resolution. With horizontally homogeneous initial conditions, convective aggregation only occurs on domains larger than about 200km and with resolutions coarser than about 2km in the model examined. The system exhibits hysteresis, so that with aggregated initial conditions, convection remains aggregated even at our finest resolution, 500m, as long as the domain is greater than 200–300km. The sensitivity of self-aggregation to resolution and domain size in this model is due to the sensitivity of the distribution of low clouds to these two parameters. Indeed, the mechanism responsible for the aggregation of convection is the dynamical response to the longwave radiative cooling from low clouds. Strong longwave cooling near cloud top in dry regions forces downward motion, which by continuity generates inflow near cloud top and near-surface outflow from dry regions. This circulation results in the net export of moist static energy from regions with low moist static energy, yielding a positive feedback.}, author = {Muller, Caroline J and Held, Isaac M.}, issn = {0022-4928}, journal = {Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences}, keywords = {Atmospheric Science}, number = {8}, pages = {2551--2565}, publisher = {American Meteorological Society}, title = {{Detailed investigation of the self-aggregation of convection in cloud-resolving simulations}}, doi = {10.1175/jas-d-11-0257.1}, volume = {69}, year = {2012}, } @article{12648, abstract = {Distributed glacier melt models generally assume that the glacier surface consists of bare exposed ice and snow. In reality, many glaciers are wholly or partially covered in layers of debris that tend to suppress ablation rates. In this paper, an existing physically based point model for the ablation of debris-covered ice is incorporated in a distributed melt model and applied to Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland, which has three large patches of debris cover on its surface. The model is based on a 10 m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the area; each glacier pixel in the DEM is defined as either bare or debris-covered ice, and may be covered in snow that must be melted off before ice ablation is assumed to occur. Each debris-covered pixel is assigned a debris thickness value using probability distributions based on over 1000 manual thickness measurements. Locally observed meteorological data are used to run energy balance calculations in every pixel, using an approach suitable for snow, bare ice or debris-covered ice as appropriate. The use of the debris model significantly reduces the total ablation in the debris-covered areas, however the precise reduction is sensitive to the temperature extrapolation used in the model distribution because air near the debris surface tends to be slightly warmer than over bare ice. Overall results suggest that the debris patches, which cover 10% of the glacierized area, reduce total runoff from the glacierized part of the basin by up to 7%.}, author = {Reid, T. D. and Carenzo, M. and Pellicciotti, Francesca and Brock, B. W.}, issn = {0148-0227}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, keywords = {Paleontology, Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Atmospheric Science, Earth-Surface Processes, Geochemistry and Petrology, Soil Science, Water Science and Technology, Ecology, Aquatic Science, Forestry, Oceanography, Geophysics}, number = {D18}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{Including debris cover effects in a distributed model of glacier ablation}}, doi = {10.1029/2012jd017795}, volume = {117}, year = {2012}, } @article{9144, abstract = {A cloud-resolving model is used to investigate the effect of warming on high percentiles of precipitation (precipitation extremes) in the idealized setting of radiative-convective equilibrium. While this idealized setting does not allow for several factors that influence precipitation in the tropics, it does allow for an evaluation of the response of precipitation extremes to warming in simulations with resolved rather than parameterized convection. The methodology developed should also be applicable to less idealized simulations. Modeled precipitation extremes are found to increase in magnitude in response to an increase in sea surface temperature. A dry static energy budget is used to relate the changes in precipitation extremes to changes in atmospheric temperature, vertical velocity, and precipitation efficiency. To first order, the changes in precipitation extremes are captured by changes in the mean temperature structure of the atmosphere. Changes in vertical velocities play a secondary role and tend to weaken the strength of precipitation extremes, despite an intensification of updraft velocities in the upper troposphere. The influence of changes in condensate transports on precipitation extremes is quantified in terms of a precipitation efficiency; it does not change greatly with warming. Tropical precipitation extremes have previously been found to increase at a greater fractional rate than the amount of atmospheric water vapor in observations of present-day variability and in some climate model simulations with parameterized convection. But the fractional increases in precipitation extremes in the cloud-resolving simulations are comparable in magnitude to those in surface water vapor concentrations (owing to a partial cancellation between dynamical and thermodynamical changes), and are substantially less than the fractional increases in column water vapor.}, author = {Muller, Caroline J and O’Gorman, Paul A. and Back, Larissa E.}, issn = {1520-0442}, journal = {Journal of Climate}, keywords = {Atmospheric Science}, number = {11}, pages = {2784--2800}, publisher = {American Meteorological Society}, title = {{Intensification of precipitation extremes with warming in a cloud-resolving model}}, doi = {10.1175/2011jcli3876.1}, volume = {24}, year = {2011}, } @article{12651, abstract = {Temperature data from three Automatic Weather Stations and twelve Temperature Loggers are used to investigate the spatiotemporal variability of temperature over a glacier, its main atmospheric controls, the suitability of extrapolation techniques and their effect on melt modeling. We use data collected on Juncal Norte Glacier, central Chile, during one ablation season. We examine temporal and spatial variability in lapse rates (LRs), together with alternative statistical interpolation methods. The main control over the glacier thermal regime is the development of a katabatic boundary layer (KBL). Katabatic wind occurs at night and in the morning and is eroded in the afternoon. LRs reveal strong diurnal variability, with steeper LRs during the day when the katabatic wind weakens and shallower LRs during the night and morning. We suggest that temporally variable LRs should be used to account for the observed change. They tend to be steeper than equivalent constant LRs, and therefore result in a reduction in simulated melt compared to use of constant LRs when extrapolating from lower to higher elevations. In addition to the temporal variability, the temperature-elevation relationship varies also in space. Differences are evident between local LRs and including such variability in melt modeling affects melt simulations. Extrapolation methods based on the spatial variability of the observations after removal of the elevation trend, such as Inverse Distance Weighting or Kriging, do not seem necessary for simulations of gridded temperature data over a glacier.}, author = {Petersen, L. and Pellicciotti, Francesca}, issn = {0148-0227}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, keywords = {Paleontology, Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Atmospheric Science, Earth-Surface Processes, Geochemistry and Petrology, Soil Science, Water Science and Technology, Ecology, Aquatic Science, Forestry, Oceanography, Geophysics}, number = {D23}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{Spatial and temporal variability of air temperature on a melting glacier: Atmospheric controls, extrapolation methods and their effect on melt modeling, Juncal Norte Glacier, Chile}}, doi = {10.1029/2011jd015842}, volume = {116}, year = {2011}, } @article{9145, abstract = {We have found a new way to express the solutions of the RSM (Reynolds Stress Model) equations that allows us to present the turbulent diffusivities for heat, salt and momentum in a way that is considerably simpler and thus easier to implement than in previous work. The RSM provides the dimensionless mixing efficiencies Γα (α stands for heat, salt and momentum). However, to compute the diffusivities, one needs additional information, specifically, the dissipation ε. Since a dynamic equation for the latter that includes the physical processes relevant to the ocean is still not available, one must resort to different sources of information outside the RSM to obtain a complete Mixing Scheme usable in OGCMs. As for the RSM results, we show that the Γα’s are functions of both Ri and Rρ (Richardson number and density ratio representing double diffusion, DD); the Γα are different for heat, salt and momentum; in the case of heat, the traditional value Γh = 0.2 is valid only in the presence of strong shear (when DD is inoperative) while when shear subsides, NATRE data show that Γh can be three times as large, a result that we reproduce. The salt Γs is given in terms of Γh. The momentum Γm has thus far been guessed with different prescriptions while the RSM provides a well defined expression for Γm(Ri, Rρ). Having tested Γh, we then test the momentum Γm by showing that the turbulent Prandtl number Γm/Γh vs. Ri reproduces the available data quite well. As for the dissipation ε, we use different representations, one for the mixed layer (ML), one for the thermocline and one for the ocean’s bottom. For the ML, we adopt a procedure analogous to the one successfully used in PB (planetary boundary layer) studies; for the thermocline, we employ an expression for the variable εN−2 from studies of the internal gravity waves spectra which includes a latitude dependence; for the ocean bottom, we adopt the enhanced bottom diffusivity expression used by previous authors but with a state of the art internal tidal energy formulation and replace the fixed Γα = 0.2 with the RSM result that brings into the problem the Ri, Rρ dependence of the Γα; the unresolved bottom drag, which has thus far been either ignored or modeled with heuristic relations, is modeled using a formalism we previously developed and tested in PBL studies. We carried out several tests without an OGCM. Prandtl and flux Richardson numbers vs. Ri. The RSM model reproduces both types of data satisfactorily. DD and Mixing efficiency Γh(Ri, Rρ). The RSM model reproduces well the NATRE data. Bimodal ε-distribution. NATRE data show that ε(Ri < 1) ≈ 10ε(Ri > 1), which our model reproduces. Heat to salt flux ratio. In the Ri ≫ 1 regime, the RSM predictions reproduce the data satisfactorily. NATRE mass diffusivity. The z-profile of the mass diffusivity reproduces well the measurements at NATRE. The local form of the mixing scheme is algebraic with one cubic equation to solve.}, author = {Canuto, V.M. and Howard, A.M. and Cheng, Y. and Muller, Caroline J and Leboissetier, A. and Jayne, S.R.}, issn = {1463-5003}, journal = {Ocean Modelling}, keywords = {Computer Science (miscellaneous), Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology, Atmospheric Science, Oceanography}, number = {3-4}, pages = {70--91}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Ocean turbulence, III: New GISS vertical mixing scheme}}, doi = {10.1016/j.ocemod.2010.04.006}, volume = {34}, year = {2010}, } @article{12658, abstract = {[1] During the ablation period 2001 a glaciometeorological experiment was carried out on Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland. Five meteorological stations were installed on the glacier, and one permanent automatic weather station in the glacier foreland. The altitudes of the stations ranged between 2500 and 3000 m a.s.l., and they were in operation from end of May to beginning of September 2001. The spatial arrangement of the stations and temporal duration of the measurements generated a unique data set enabling the analysis of the spatial and temporal variability of the meteorological variables across an alpine glacier. All measurements were taken at a nominal height of 2 m, and hourly averages were derived for the analysis. The wind regime was dominated by the glacier wind (mean value 2.8 m s−1) but due to erosion by the synoptic gradient wind, occasionally the wind would blow up the valley. A slight decrease in mean 2 m air temperatures with altitude was found, however the 2 m air temperature gradient varied greatly and frequently changed its sign. Mean relative humidity was 71% and exhibited limited spatial variation. Mean incoming shortwave radiation and albedo both generally increased with elevation. The different components of shortwave radiation are quantified with a parameterization scheme. Resulting spatial variations are mainly due to horizon obstruction and reflections from surrounding slopes, i.e., topography. The effect of clouds accounts for a loss of 30% of the extraterrestrial flux. Albedos derived from a Landsat TM image of 30 July show remarkably constant values, in the range 0.49 to 0.50, across snow covered parts of the glacier, while albedo is highly spatially variable below the zone of continuous snow cover. These results are verified with ground measurements and compared with parameterized albedo. Mean longwave radiative fluxes decreased with elevation due to lower air temperatures and the effect of upper hemisphere slopes. It is shown through parameterization that this effect would even be more pronounced without the effect of clouds. Results are discussed with respect to a similar study which has been carried out on Pasterze Glacier (Austria). The presented algorithms for interpolating, parameterizing and simulating variables and parameters in alpine regions are integrated in the software package AMUNDSEN which is freely available to be adapted and further developed by the community.}, author = {Strasser, Ulrich and Corripio, Javier and Pellicciotti, Francesca and Burlando, Paolo and Brock, Ben and Funk, Martin}, issn = {0148-0227}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, keywords = {Paleontology, Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Atmospheric Science, Earth-Surface Processes, Geochemistry and Petrology, Soil Science, Water Science and Technology, Ecology, Aquatic Science, Forestry, Oceanography, Geophysics}, number = {D3}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, title = {{Spatial and temporal variability of meteorological variables at Haut Glacier d'Arolla (Switzerland) during the ablation season 2001: Measurements and simulations}}, doi = {10.1029/2003jd003973}, volume = {109}, year = {2004}, }