Measuring Firn Hydrology and Ice Dynamics at the Greenland Runoff Limit (MAGNOLIA)
Université de Fribourg
Lay summary
The Greenland ice sheet is losing mass, with increasing surface melting being one of the main drivers of mass loss. However, only about 60% of melt actually runs off and contributes to mass losses. The remainder refreezes in the porous snow and firn. Any change in the runoff fraction will therefore influence ice sheet mass balance. Consequently, understanding why meltwater runs off or refreezes is essential to assess future potential mass losses and associated sea level rise in Greenland.
The project “Measuring Firn Hydrology and Ice Dynamics at the Greenland Runoff Limit” prolongs measurements on the Greenland ice sheet which were started around 2020 in research projects funded by the European Union, the Swiss Polar Institute and the Swiss National Science Foundation. The funding by the SPI allows visiting the measuring sites on the ice sheet in spring 2024. We will carry out measurements of ice velocity, measure the amount of meltwater that refreezes near the surface of the ice sheet, measure temperatures inside the ice down to a depth of 20 m and obtain meteorological measurements.
The data obtained will improve our understanding how the Greenland ice sheet reacts to climatic change. With help of the measurements we will quantify how the flow of the ice is changing and how much of the meltwater refreezes.
Details
| Regional focus | Arctic |
| Location | Western slope of the Greenland Ice Sheet |
| Funded amount | 64,000 CHF |
| Project dates | 1st January 2024 – 31st December 2024 |
| Category | SPI Exploratory Grants |