Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
20-4-2023 4:10 PM
End Date
20-4-2023 5:00 PM
Disciplines
Environmental Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Keywords
hydrology, GrIS, remote sensing, supraglacial melt lakes, glaciology, climate change
Abstract
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is losing ice mass as the climate warms. Supraglacial melt lakes (SGLs), which are present in the ablation (melt) zone of the GrIS are found to be responsive - and reinforce - changes in glaciological and climatological dynamics. Developing a spatiotemporal model to monitor lake volume change throughout the melt season (late-April through September) can enhance our understanding of subsequent GrIS changes. Supraglacial melt lakes accumulate in volume and in some cases drain to the ice sheet base during the melting season. In this study we utilize Landsat satellite imagery paired with high resolution digital elevation model data (DEMs) to estimate melt lake depth (per satellite pixel) and derive melt lake volume during the 2021 melt season. We further explore a meteorologically-driven lake-filling method by modeling surface melt across the melt lake watershed, and route meltwater to the lake basin. With expected increase in temperature in the Arctic region, we hypothesize that melt lakes will move further inland, and be larger in area, on the GrIS, which could be a positive feedback to increased ice mass discharge.
Faculty Mentor
Rowley, Nathan
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Included in
Estimating Supraglacial Melt Lake Volume Changes in West Central Greenland Using Multiple Remote Sensing Methods
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is losing ice mass as the climate warms. Supraglacial melt lakes (SGLs), which are present in the ablation (melt) zone of the GrIS are found to be responsive - and reinforce - changes in glaciological and climatological dynamics. Developing a spatiotemporal model to monitor lake volume change throughout the melt season (late-April through September) can enhance our understanding of subsequent GrIS changes. Supraglacial melt lakes accumulate in volume and in some cases drain to the ice sheet base during the melting season. In this study we utilize Landsat satellite imagery paired with high resolution digital elevation model data (DEMs) to estimate melt lake depth (per satellite pixel) and derive melt lake volume during the 2021 melt season. We further explore a meteorologically-driven lake-filling method by modeling surface melt across the melt lake watershed, and route meltwater to the lake basin. With expected increase in temperature in the Arctic region, we hypothesize that melt lakes will move further inland, and be larger in area, on the GrIS, which could be a positive feedback to increased ice mass discharge.