| Term: | Climatic mass balance |
| Definition: | The sum of the surface mass balance and the internal mass balance; see also climatic-basal mass balance. The term is introduced to preserve the distinction between its two components, which is compromised if surface mass balance is redefined to include internal accumulation. The qualifier 'climatic' reflects the fact that the surface and internal balances both depend strongly on interaction between the glacier, the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. |