Toropov et al. (2025) The New IGRICE Model as a Tool for Studying the Mechanisms of Glacier Retreat

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Identification

• Journal: Climate
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-11
• Authors: Pavel A. Toropov, Anna A. Shestakova, Anton Y. Muraviev, Evgeny D. Drozdov, Aleksei A. Poliukhov
• DOI: 10.3390/cli13120248

Research Groups

The research group responsible for developing and testing the IGRICE global glacier model.

Short Summary

This study introduces IGRICE, a new global glacier model with an explicit surface mass balance, validated against observational data in the Caucasus and Svalbard, demonstrating good agreement and identifying regional drivers of glacier degradation.

Objective

• To present and validate IGRICE, a new global glacier model designed for assessing glacier changes and as a basis for Earth System Model parametrizations, by simulating surface mass balance and dynamics in contrasting regions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global (model design), tested on glaciers in the Caucasus and Svalbard regions.
• Temporal Scale: 1984–2021 (38 years).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: IGRICE (new global glacier model), with its dynamic core based on the Oerlemans minimal model. It explicitly simulates surface mass balance components (orographic precipitation, radiation redistribution, turbulent heat fluxes, snow cover evolution).
• Data sources: Observational data (for validation), ERA5 reanalysis data (forcing), morphometric glacial and topographic parameters.

Main Results

• IGRICE demonstrates good agreement with observations, with correlation coefficients for accumulation, ablation, and total surface mass balance ranging from 0.6 to 0.9.
• In the Caucasus, the primary driver of glacier retreat is an increase in net shortwave radiation balance, attributed to reduced cloudiness and albedo.
• In Svalbard, rapid glacier degradation is linked to an increased fraction of liquid precipitation and an extended snow-free period, leading to a sharp decrease in albedo.

Contributions

• Development and presentation of IGRICE, a new computationally efficient and physically well-founded global glacier model.
• Explicit simulation of detailed surface mass balance components, enhancing model realism.
• Validation of the model in climatically and topographically contrasting regions (Caucasus and Svalbard).
• Identification of distinct regional drivers for glacier degradation, providing insights for climate change impact assessments.
• Provides a solid basis for future mountain glaciation parametrizations within Earth System Models.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Toropov2025New,
  author = {Toropov, Pavel A. and Shestakova, Anna A. and Muraviev, Anton Y. and Drozdov, Evgeny D. and Poliukhov, Aleksei A.},
  title = {The New IGRICE Model as a Tool for Studying the Mechanisms of Glacier Retreat},
  journal = {Climate},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/cli13120248},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13120248}
}