Greenland ice-sheet melt exciting ocean extremes (G-shocx)

• Applicant: Dr. Torge Martin
• Subject Area: Oceanography
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431440277

This project aims at answering two currently intensely discussed questions related to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet: the time of emergence of enhanced Greenland runoff in the subpolar North Atlantic and the potential for ocean extremes caused by exceptionally strong melt. Both will be quantified using simulations with the recently developed and tested global climate model FOCI-VIKING10. The model features a regionally refined ocean grid of 1/10˚ in the North Atlantic (30˚-85˚N) embedded by 2-way nesting in a fully coupled global climate model. We will run ensembles of multi-decadal global warming experiments with prescribed Greenland runoff. Spatially and temporally varying runoff records will be applied for the observational period 1958-2016; for projections through 2050, the observed local trends will be extrapolated and stochastic variability added enabling a systematic insertion of extremes for experiments with different runoff scenarios. Additionally, we will explore new ways of model validation focusing on variability by using remote sensing products of sea surface salinity and Argo-float data. The project will provide location, time and magnitude of ocean change as response to realistically projected Greenland melt and their impact on atmospheric conditions over Europe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants