Rate of Short-Term ablation of Exposed Ground Ice, Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada

Energy fluxes and resultant short-term ablation rates were measured at a ground-ice slump on south-west Banks Island. Net radiation, as a proportion of the ablation flux, is greatest on days with high incident solar radiation, whereas on overcast days, sensible- and latent-heat inputs may supply more than half the necessary energy. A multiple regression equation using net radiation and a turbulent-energy term as independent variables explains 79% of the variation in the measured ablation fluxes. Overall, at least 60% of the energy used for ablation at the slump is derived from net radiation.