Jakobshavn ice stream in Greenland is the most productive glacier in the world. In July of this year the University of Zürich (UZH) in Switzerland installed four Greenland Guidance instruments at Jakobshavn. Two glacier weather stations and two ice motion trackers measure ice movement via GPS in a detailed study of glacier dynamics.
Since their installation these instruments have been sending home the data they collected via the Iridium satellite network. The data feed into our data portal where it can be viewed and download by the university.
Because the instruments are positioned on Jakobshavn’s fast moving ice, the trackers are recording high ice velocities. And in only four months time they measured an elevation drop of about 25 m as the ice sheet flows towards the ocean.
Although winter hasn’t entirely arrived yet, the uppermost weather station at 1100 m above sea level already measured temperatures down to -35 °C. We are eager to find out whether temperatures down to -50 °C will be recorded come January, February or March. The lowest temperature measured by our instruments further south is “only” -43 °C.