Estimating Freshwater Discharge from the Greenland Ice Sheet with MODIS

Freshwater discharge from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has significant ecological importance, impacts ocean circulation and represents a major contribution to global sea level rise. Despite these factors, only one river in Greenland (accounting for less than one percent of land terminating river outlets) has a published discharge record. Due to logistical constrains future efforts to directly gauge river discharge will likely remain ad hoc. To overcome this deficiency, we developed a remote sensing technique that utilizes observations of sediment plume geometry as a proxy for freshwater discharge from the ice sheet. We use MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) imagery, validated with a suite of oceanographic measurements from four fjords in southwest Greenland during the 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012 summer seasons. From surface water samples collected during these campaigns we develop a robust retrieval algorithm for suspended sediment concentrations based on MODIS band one and two reflectance values (r² =.84). This relationship allows us to accurately map sediment plume geometry of numerous river-fjord systems on all cloud-free days during the summer season. We then use in situ river discharge records from the Watson River at Kangerlussuaq (a six year record), ';Pakitsuup South' River near Illulisat (a two year record) and Naujat Kuat River near Nuuk (a three year record) to derive an empirical relationship between plume geometry and discharge volume. These fjords provide a robust test for this method, as fjord salinity for these locations span a continuum of river-dominated low salinity to ocean-dominated high salinity cases. We find high interannual stability in these relationships for individual sites, suggesting that this method may be suitable for estimating historical river discharges back to 2000 when Terra, the first satellite carrying MODIS was launched. Despite promise, variability in the empirical relationships found precludes reconstructions for additional river-fjord systems without in situ observations.