Cryospheric modelling is a critical tool for assessing the past, present and future behaviour of the world’s cold regions and determining their response to climate change. It enables us to address globally important research questions, such as how sea levels will change during the 21st century and how the water supplies for almost a billion people will evolve, as climate warms. Cryospheric modelling addresses these critical questions at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from the short-term evolution of a snowpack, through to millions of years of ice sheet waxing and waning. It enhances understanding across wide-ranging environments, including the high mountains, the ice sheets and the oceans and contributes vital knowledge at the boundaries of other fields, including climate science, oceanography and geohazards. In combination with observational data, cryospheric modelling also aids in the development of critical understanding of key processes shaping our world today. Thus, the development, validation and application of cryospheric modelling is a critical pillar of present-day cryospheric research.
The International Glaciological Society’s (IGS) International Symposium on ‘Verification and Validation of Cryospheric Models’ was held between 4 and 9 August 2024 in Newcastle, UK, with the aim of bringing together the cryospheric modelling community and sharing new ideas and advances in research. The symposium focused on all aspects of cryospheric modelling, including development, verification, validation and applications and the integration of observational data with modelling work. This online collection of the Annals of Glaciology brings together the breadth of ideas presented at the symposium and also includes papers submitted in response to an open call. The collection is composed of 14 articles, spanning a wide range of topics, including modelling calving rates and Marine Ice Cliff Instability in Antarctica and determining critical components of the surface mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Work also focused on the interaction between the Antarctic ice sheet and its surrounding oceans, including grounding-line migration and subaqueous melt rates. Other submissions documented surface energy and mass balance modelling approaches in the high-mountain settings of the Andes and Himalaya, and in maritime Norway. Work also focused on gap-filling of mass balance measurements on the Greenland ice sheet and evaluation of regional climate models driving melt models in Greenland. Further topics include the modelling of water in firn, a Bayesian calibration of a subglacial drainage model, temperature reconstruction from bubble density in ice cores and the propagation of ocean waves through an ice shelf with rolling surface morphology. Taken together, the collection documents a wide range of cryospheric modelling approaches, research foci and study sites, which together add to our knowledge of the cryosphere.
The Annals of Glaciology is a peer-reviewed thematic journal published by Cambridge University Press, on behalf of the IGS. We thank the authors for their submissions and the participants of the Newcastle 2024 symposium for their valued and enthusiastic contributions. We also wish to thank the local organising committee for providing an excellent event, which was led by Northumbria University and by Jan De Rydt, Lindsay Connolly, Ruth Davy, Brad Reed, Sainan Sun, Jo Zanker, Harley McCourt and Qing Qin. We also thank the broader science steering committee, which included: Hilmar Gudmundsson (U. Northumbria, chair), Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir (U. Iceland), Rachel Carr (Newcastle U.), Christine Hvidberg (U. Copenhagen), Adrian Jenkins (U. Northumbria), Ching-Yao Lai (Stanford U.), Brent Minchew (MIT), Ruth Mottram (Danish Met. Inst.), Frank Pattyn (U. Libre de Bruxelles), Andy Shepherd (U. Northumbria), Ted Scambos (U. Colorado), Jürg Schweizer (SLF Davos), John Woodward (U. Northumbria). Thanks go to the Annals of Glaciology handling staff for their support of the publication process. We express our gratitude to Hester Jiskoot as the IGS Chief Editor, who provided expert guidance on the editorial process and the assembly of this issue. Finally, we thank the Associate Chief Editor (Rachel Carr) and Scientific Editors (Christine Hvidberg, Ann Rowan, Jürg Schweizer, Hilmar Gudmundsson and Michiel van den Broeke) for handling the articles and guiding them to publication.
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Cryospheric modelling is a critical tool for assessing the past, present and future behaviour of the world’s cold regions and determining their response to climate change. It enables us to address globally important research questions, such as how sea levels will change during the 21st century and how the water supplies for almost a billion people will evolve, as climate warms. Cryospheric modelling addresses these critical questions at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from the short-term evolution of a snowpack, through to millions of years of ice sheet waxing and waning. It enhances understanding across wide-ranging environments, including the high mountains, the ice sheets and the oceans and contributes vital knowledge at the boundaries of other fields, including climate science, oceanography and geohazards. In combination with observational data, cryospheric modelling also aids in the development of critical understanding of key processes shaping our world today. Thus, the development, validation and application of cryospheric modelling is a critical pillar of present-day cryospheric research.
The International Glaciological Society’s (IGS) International Symposium on ‘Verification and Validation of Cryospheric Models’ was held between 4 and 9 August 2024 in Newcastle, UK, with the aim of bringing together the cryospheric modelling community and sharing new ideas and advances in research. The symposium focused on all aspects of cryospheric modelling, including development, verification, validation and applications and the integration of observational data with modelling work. This online collection of the Annals of Glaciology brings together the breadth of ideas presented at the symposium and also includes papers submitted in response to an open call. The collection is composed of 14 articles, spanning a wide range of topics, including modelling calving rates and Marine Ice Cliff Instability in Antarctica and determining critical components of the surface mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Work also focused on the interaction between the Antarctic ice sheet and its surrounding oceans, including grounding-line migration and subaqueous melt rates. Other submissions documented surface energy and mass balance modelling approaches in the high-mountain settings of the Andes and Himalaya, and in maritime Norway. Work also focused on gap-filling of mass balance measurements on the Greenland ice sheet and evaluation of regional climate models driving melt models in Greenland. Further topics include the modelling of water in firn, a Bayesian calibration of a subglacial drainage model, temperature reconstruction from bubble density in ice cores and the propagation of ocean waves through an ice shelf with rolling surface morphology. Taken together, the collection documents a wide range of cryospheric modelling approaches, research foci and study sites, which together add to our knowledge of the cryosphere.
The Annals of Glaciology is a peer-reviewed thematic journal published by Cambridge University Press, on behalf of the IGS. We thank the authors for their submissions and the participants of the Newcastle 2024 symposium for their valued and enthusiastic contributions. We also wish to thank the local organising committee for providing an excellent event, which was led by Northumbria University and by Jan De Rydt, Lindsay Connolly, Ruth Davy, Brad Reed, Sainan Sun, Jo Zanker, Harley McCourt and Qing Qin. We also thank the broader science steering committee, which included: Hilmar Gudmundsson (U. Northumbria, chair), Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir (U. Iceland), Rachel Carr (Newcastle U.), Christine Hvidberg (U. Copenhagen), Adrian Jenkins (U. Northumbria), Ching-Yao Lai (Stanford U.), Brent Minchew (MIT), Ruth Mottram (Danish Met. Inst.), Frank Pattyn (U. Libre de Bruxelles), Andy Shepherd (U. Northumbria), Ted Scambos (U. Colorado), Jürg Schweizer (SLF Davos), John Woodward (U. Northumbria). Thanks go to the Annals of Glaciology handling staff for their support of the publication process. We express our gratitude to Hester Jiskoot as the IGS Chief Editor, who provided expert guidance on the editorial process and the assembly of this issue. Finally, we thank the Associate Chief Editor (Rachel Carr) and Scientific Editors (Christine Hvidberg, Ann Rowan, Jürg Schweizer, Hilmar Gudmundsson and Michiel van den Broeke) for handling the articles and guiding them to publication.