Seasonal Evolution of Supra-glacial Lakes Across the Greenland Ice Sheet

We used 268 MODIS satellite images spanning the melt seasons 2003 and 2005-2007 to investigate the seasonal evolution of supra-glacial lakes in three different regions of the Greenland ice sheet. Lake area estimates were obtained by developing an automated classification method for their identification based on 250 m resolution MODIS surface reflectance images. Our dataset reveal widespread supra-glacial lake formation and drainage across the Greenland ice sheet, with a 2-3 weeks delay in the evolution of total supra-glacial lake area in the northern study areas compared to the south-western study area. The onset of lake growth varies by up to one month inter-annually, and lakes form and drain at progressively higher altitudes during the melt season. The annual peak in total lake area is positively correlated with modelled annual runoff across all study areas. Our results indicate that, in a warmer climate, supra-glacial lakes on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet can be expected to form earlier in the melt season and at higher altitudes than is presently the case. In consequence, the area and time period over which connections between the ice sheet surface and base may be established (Das et al 2008) will increase, potentially increasing the rate of ice sheet discharge and its sea level contribution (Zwally et al 2002). Das, S., Joughin, M., Behn, M., Howat, I., King, M., Lizarralde, D., Bhatia, M., 2008. Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet during supra-glacial lake drainage, Science, 5877, p.778-781. Zwally, H.J., Abdalati, W., Herring, T., Larson, K., Saba, J., Steffen, K., 2002. Surface Melt-Induced Acceleration of Greenland Ice-Sheet Flow, Science, 297, p.218-221.