QGG ARTHUR D. HOWARD AWARD: BRIDGING SCIENCE TO PUBLIC: ANALYZING FRESHWATER FLUX IN KALAALLIT NUNAAT (GREENLAND)

Prior to the 21st century, we had limited knowledge about ice sheet change due to their remote locations and perceived slow pace of change. However, with the increase in satellite observations, we now know that the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been rapidly losing mass, contributing to about 1.3 mm of global sea level rise each year in the last two decades. Despite this understanding, the impacts of mass loss from the Greenland Ice sheet (GrIS) on regional ocean properties remain uncertain due to lack of research on short-term processes at the ice-ocean interface. Here, we focus on remote sensing based work on variations in iceberg discharge from GrIS’s glaciers at seasonal to decadal timescales. We calculate terminus ablation, which accounts for changes in ice flow towards the ocean as well as changes in glacier terminus position. We found that ice discharge and terminus ablation have almost the same values for most months of the year suggesting most of the ablation is accounted for by the ice discharge. But during summer, there are some huge spikes in ablation values which may be described by calving and increase in submarine melt.

The fate of the icebergs once they enter the ocean also influences local to regional ocean properties. Iceberg melt rates can be estimated from temporal changes in the height of icebergs above the water line, as measured using the high-resolution digital elevation models or drone imagery that have also become increasingly available in recent years. In this presentation, I will not focus on iceberg melt rate estimates from these datasets, but rather on how observations of icebergs using UAVs can be used to create outreach products that help students (K-12) visualize iceberg melting in glacial fjords using digital cameras.

Recent advances in satellite observations of ice flow speed and terminus position have provided detailed time series of terminus ablation, significantly improving our understanding of ice dynamics and ice-ocean interactions, and helping us make more accurate projections. By incorporating these findings into outreach efforts, we can effectively communicate the implications of ice dynamics and climate change to the broader public, inspiring diverse students to polar research, and promoting informed decision-making.