---
_id: '14885'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The near-surface boundary layer can mediate the response of mountain glaciers
    to external climate, cooling the overlying air and promoting a density-driven
    glacier wind. The fundamental processes are conceptually well understood, though
    the magnitudes of cooling and presence of glacier winds are poorly quantified
    in space and time, increasing the forcing uncertainty for melt models. We utilize
    a new data set of on-glacier meteorological measurements on three neighboring
    glaciers in the Swiss Alps to explore their distinct response to regional climate
    under the extreme 2022 summer. We find that synoptic wind origins and local terrain
    modifications, not only glacier size, play an important role in the ability of
    a glacier to cool the near-surface air. Warm air intrusions from valley or synoptically-driven
    winds onto the glacier can occur between ∼19% and 64% of the time and contribute
    between 3% and 81% of the total sensible heat flux to the surface during warm
    afternoon hours, depending on the fetch of the glacier flowline and its susceptibility
    to boundary layer erosion. In the context of extreme summer warmth, indicative
    of future conditions, the boundary layer cooling (up to 6.5°C cooler than its
    surroundings) and resultant katabatic wind flow are highly heterogeneous between
    the study glaciers, highlighting the complex and likely non-linear response of
    glaciers to an uncertain future.
acknowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon
  2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement
  No. 101026058. The authors acknowledge the invaluable field assistance of Marta
  Corrà, Achille Jouberton, Marin Kneib, Stefan Fugger, Celine Ducret and Alexander
  Groos. The authors would also like to thank Luca Carturan for advice regarding AWS
  setup and maintenance and Simone Fatichi for provision and support in the use of
  the Tethys-Chloris model. Open access funding provided by ETH-Bereich Forschungsanstalten.
article_number: e2023JD040214
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Thomas
  full_name: Shaw, Thomas
  id: 3caa3f91-1f03-11ee-96ce-e0e553054d6e
  last_name: Shaw
  orcid: 0000-0001-7640-6152
- first_name: Pascal
  full_name: Buri, Pascal
  id: 317987aa-9421-11ee-ac5a-b941b041abba
  last_name: Buri
- first_name: Michael
  full_name: Mccarthy, Michael
  id: 22a2674a-61ce-11ee-94b5-d18813baf16f
  last_name: Mccarthy
- first_name: Evan S.
  full_name: Miles, Evan S.
  last_name: Miles
- first_name: Francesca
  full_name: Pellicciotti, Francesca
  id: b28f055a-81ea-11ed-b70c-a9fe7f7b0e70
  last_name: Pellicciotti
  orcid: 0000-0002-5554-8087
citation:
  ama: 'Shaw T, Buri P, McCarthy M, Miles ES, Pellicciotti F. Local controls on near-surface
    glacier cooling under warm atmospheric conditions. <i>Journal of Geophysical Research:
    Atmospheres</i>. 2024;129(2). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040214">10.1029/2023JD040214</a>'
  apa: 'Shaw, T., Buri, P., McCarthy, M., Miles, E. S., &#38; Pellicciotti, F. (2024).
    Local controls on near-surface glacier cooling under warm atmospheric conditions.
    <i>Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</i>. Wiley. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040214">https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040214</a>'
  chicago: 'Shaw, Thomas, Pascal Buri, Michael McCarthy, Evan S. Miles, and Francesca
    Pellicciotti. “Local Controls on Near-Surface Glacier Cooling under Warm Atmospheric
    Conditions.” <i>Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</i>. Wiley, 2024.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040214">https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040214</a>.'
  ieee: 'T. Shaw, P. Buri, M. McCarthy, E. S. Miles, and F. Pellicciotti, “Local controls
    on near-surface glacier cooling under warm atmospheric conditions,” <i>Journal
    of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</i>, vol. 129, no. 2. Wiley, 2024.'
  ista: 'Shaw T, Buri P, McCarthy M, Miles ES, Pellicciotti F. 2024. Local controls
    on near-surface glacier cooling under warm atmospheric conditions. Journal of
    Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 129(2), e2023JD040214.'
  mla: 'Shaw, Thomas, et al. “Local Controls on Near-Surface Glacier Cooling under
    Warm Atmospheric Conditions.” <i>Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</i>,
    vol. 129, no. 2, e2023JD040214, Wiley, 2024, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040214">10.1029/2023JD040214</a>.'
  short: 'T. Shaw, P. Buri, M. McCarthy, E.S. Miles, F. Pellicciotti, Journal of Geophysical
    Research: Atmospheres 129 (2024).'
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2024-01-28T23:01:42Z
date_published: 2024-01-28T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-04T11:58:38Z
day: '28'
ddc:
- '550'
department:
- _id: FrPe
doi: 10.1029/2023JD040214
external_id:
  isi:
  - '001146838000001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: cad5b93caadb40c14e5faedc34f7bba7
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2024-02-06T08:38:27Z
  date_updated: 2024-02-06T08:38:27Z
  file_id: '14943'
  file_name: 2024_JGRAtmospheres_Shaw.pdf
  file_size: 7481087
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2024-02-06T08:38:27Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '       129'
isi: 1
issue: '2'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '01'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: 'Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres'
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2169-8996
  issn:
  - 2169-897X
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '14919'
    relation: research_data
    status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Local controls on near-surface glacier cooling under warm atmospheric conditions
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 129
year: '2024'
...