The glaciers in south Greenland are the canaries in the coal mine. They are located in the warmest part of Greenland. As the climate warms, glaciers further north will experience similar conditions in the future. So to learn about the future fate of the Greenland ice sheet, we must study how south Greenland glaciers fare in present-day climate conditions. For this reason we installed 3 draw wire ablation trackers (DWIATs) in south Greenland, and more instruments will follow. An important difference with most other science projects is that this project got funded by a pioneering, US-based company named Forloh.
For Greenland Guidance it all started when we were approached by Greenland logistics guru Kathy Young who was in touch with a company eager to contribute to climate science. A company appropriately selling warm outdoor clothing. Forloh was seeking to sponsor climate science in a cost-effective manner. With Greenland Guidance’s non-profit approach to science, a match was soon in the making.
Our missions with the instruments in south Greenland is not only that the observational data are shared freely with researchers across the globe, but also that the measurement locations are optimal for scientists. For this reason we asked the research community where they could see most value in having DWIATs monitor ice melt and motion. After this we decided on 3 sites requiring only short helicopter flights in south Greenland.
One monitoring site is right next to a moulin (meltwater drainage hole) on the main ice sheet. The second instrument is on the large, fast-flowing glacier named Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat (often called Qajuuttap Sermia) which is receiving increasing amounts of scientific attention these days. The third is on Nordbo glacier (Nordbogletsjer), a historic site where ice melt was also measured over 4 decades ago, providing an excellent opportunity to study the impacts of climate change since then.
Our helicopter charter took place on a Thursday in August. We were spared any weather delays, which are not uncommon when flying in Greenland. Our first site took some scouting as we had about 20 moulin candidate sites selected from satellite imagery. The second and third site were know before arrival, chosen to avoid crevasses and to match the historic measurement location, respectively. Instrument assembly/testing and drilling the draw wire into the glacier took 30-45 minutes per site. Even though the drilling at these wet sites proved difficult, we managed to stay on schedule, leaving some time for collecting footage at the spectacular moulin site.
We very much invite other scientists to collaborate scientifically or logistically in this project. Please do get in touch if you’re active in the region and have specific data needs.
