Understanding the impacts of climate change on ice sheets and glaciers requires accurate knowledge of surface mass balance. The interaction of ice sheets and glaciers with the atmosphere enables coupled atmosphere-ocean modes and large-scale weather patterns, meso-scale circulations, and local-scale energy and mass exchanges in the near-surface boundary layer to control the surface mass balance. Surface processes including melt-albedo feedbacks and firn densification introduce further complexity in determining surface mass balance.

This session focuses on (i) advances in measuring surface energy budgets and surface mass balance, and (ii) modelling that improves our understanding of glacier and ice sheet surface mass balance and atmospheric interaction. We invite contributions across a broad range of theoretical, numerical and observational approaches that explore historic, recent and projected changes to glacier and ice sheet surface energy budgets and mass balance. The range of topics includes but is not limited to: boundary layer dynamics; improvements to satellite SMB retrievals; firn densification; future atmospheric circulation impacts; changes in cloudiness; and the processes driving snow and ice albedo changes. We particularly welcome contributions which focus on improvements to process understanding that will lead to better SMB estimates in the future.