Last summer, Greenland Guidance was again invited to assist with instrument maintenance on the western slope of the Greenland ice sheet. Here, along the iconic K-transect, Danish and Dutch scientist have been using automated measurement systems to monitor climate variables and surface ice melt for decades. As these weather stations, ice ablation trackers and other scientific measurement systems are exposed to harsh weather such as low temperatures, high wind speeds and countless thaw/freeze cycles, they need to be looked after once a year.
As in previous years, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU) and Greenland Guidance joined forces to visit all 10 measurement sites. Unlike the year before, the weather was reasonably well behaved; clouds and winds did not interfere too much with helicopter operations. In the higher ranges of our work area though we encountered a thick layer of saturated snow. Uncommonly warm air masses were over the ice sheet causing a serious melt event, severely complicating moving about in the soft, wet snow.
Most equipment was found in good working order, requiring between 15 minutes and 3 hours of ground time per measurement site. The good news for Greenland Guidance was that all 4 custom-built draw wire ice ablation trackers (DWIATs) were fully functional and transmitting ice melt and motion data home.
One of the highlights of the 5-day fieldwork campaign was the sighting of what is best described as a “moulin fountain”. This rarely seen phenomenon occurs when overpressure from a large moulin (meltwater drainage hole in ice) is released via a crack in the ice to a smaller, neighbouring moulin.