Measuring short term velocity changes of Kangilerngata Sermia, west Greenland using a Gamma Portable Radar Interferometer
Abstract
Kangilerngata Sermia, west Greenland, is a 4 km wide marine terminating glacier that experienced rapid retreat from 2005-2010, withdrawing from a stabilizing sill at 150 m depth to its current state, grounded 350 m below sea level. The ice front retreated 2.3 km over a 5 year period with ice speeds increasing to 3x the average rate as the front retreated into deeper water. With a bed that is continuously 200-450 m below sea level for 30 km upstream, this glacier might continue to retreat rapidly for decades to come. We conducted a 16-day field campaign in July 2016 aimed to increase the temporal resolution of ice flow velocity measurements during the peak calving season by using a Gamma Portable Radar Interferometer (GPRI) deployed at 100m elevation about 3 km from the glacier front, scanning the glacier every 3 minutes. In addition we conducted an hydrography survey, collecting a set of 11 CTDs (conductivity, temperature, depth plus dissolved oxygen) about 1 km from the calving front, to estimate the amount of ice melted by the ocean. We compare these results to simulations of ice melt of a calving face using the MITgcm ocean model to help evaluate the model results on one glacier. With the GPRI we form a time series of radar images that show the dynamics of the ocean surface in front of the glacier as a result of wind, sub-glacial water discharge and calving events. We form time series of radar interferograms to analyze the time evolution of glacier speed, especially in relation to calving events, both small and large. Velocity records are used to detect changes in speed, prior, during and post-calving and to determine how long these changes persisted. These results are then analyzed in relation to bed topography (mapped with multi-beam) and tidal cycle. We also compare our results with TerraSAR-X ice velocity maps. We conclude on the impacts of calving events on short-term ice dynamics and implications for the future of this glacier. This work was preformed at UCI/JPL under a contract with NASA.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFM.C13C0831K
- Keywords:
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- 0726 Ice sheets;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 0728 Ice shelves;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 1217 Time variable gravity;
- GEODESY AND GRAVITYDE: 4207 Arctic and Antarctic oceanography;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL