B.p.y. Noël Msc
Physics - Marine and Atmospheric Research - Dynamics Meteoro
Utrecht University
Netherlands
Biography
Noël developed a more detailed model to study the ice caps, because the model used previously was too coarsely gridded to properly study the topographically complex ice caps. ”The new model shows a striking agreement with observations”, says Utrecht researcher Bert Wouters who computed changes in the volume of the ice caps using height measurements made by satellites, such as the European CryoSat-2 mission. ”This gives us confidence that the model is reliably reproducing the ongoing changes.” With the model, Noël analysed a number of variables that influence ice mass in enough detail to show not only the ice caps’ mass loss, but also the underlying causalities. After increasing the resolution from 11 km to 1 km, the researchers saw that the mass loss correlates directly with meltwater run-off, which is in turn directly influenced by an increase in temperature.
Research Interest
environmental sciences
Publications
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Boisvert, Linette N., Lee, Jae N., Lenaerts, Jan T.M., Noël, Brice, van den Broeke, Michiel R. & Nolin, Anne W. (16.01.2017). Using remotely sensed data from AIRS to estimate the vapor flux on the Greenland ice sheet - Comparisons with observations and a regional climate model. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 122 (1), (pp. 202-229) (28 p.).
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Steger, C.R., Reijmer, C.H., van den Broeke, M.R., Wever, N., Forster, R.R., Koenig, Lora S., Kuipers Munneke, P., Lehning, M., Lhermitte, S., Ligtenberg, S.R.M., Miege, Clement & Noël, B.P.Y. (2017). Firn meltwater retention on the Greenland Ice Sheet: a model comparison. Frontiers in Earth Science, Cryosphere, 5, (pp. 1-16) (16 p.).
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Noël, B.P.Y., van de Berg, W.J., Lhermitte, S., Wouters, B., Machguth, Horst, Howat, I.M., Citterio, M., Moholdt, G., Lenaerts, J.T.M. & van den Broeke, M.R. (2017). A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps. Nature Communications, 8 (8 p.).
