Greenland Ice Sheet6
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Petermann Glacier: At a glacial pace?
We are beginning our focus on the land based ice of northern Greenland. Flying out of Thule places us close to Petermann Glacier situated in Greenland’s northwest corner. The focus of our first flight of this phase of the project (the overall 29th flight of the season!) is Petermann Glacier. Perhaps Greenland’s most newsworthy glacier…
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A 30 year history of measuring Greenland’s Breathtaking Vistas
We flew our last science flight out of Kangerlussuaq Base (western Greenland) over the Geikie Peninsula, on the east coast of Greenland. This high priority mission had not been completed prior to this because of difficult weather in the peninsula area. The mission focus was to determine how the surface ice elevation and ice thickness…
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Soaring Through the Southeastern Greenland Outlet Glaciers
Our mission was to collect some long survey lines down the center of some of Greenland’s most spectacular southeastern glaciers. The study design would require us to complete a transect across the Greenland ice sheet, fortunately at a location when the country undergoes a noticeable taper. Starting at Kangerlussuaq, our base on Greenland’s west coast,…
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It takes a lot of instruments to collect ice measurements!
The Operation IceBridge (OIB) mission is a truly collaborative project with several agencies and multiple instruments involved in collecting independent measurements. The data is then analyzed concurrently to develop an understanding of the ice processes underway. The measurement of sea ice is an excellent example of how multiple methods of measurement are needed to collect…
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Jakobshavn Glacier continues to provide surprises!
We have moved south! One of the many challenges of our Greenland survey is the need to switch bases in the midst of the season since Thule Air Force Base also serves as a staging location for a major resupply mission for many of the Arctic outposts. The whole set up has to be packed…
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Flying Over the Arctic, Collecting Data and Enjoying the View
By Brian Moses This past week, Operation IceBridge undertook a detailed survey of the ICEX camp, situated on the ice sheet north of Alaska. This complex 3 day mission involves a transit to Fairbanks, AK over the top of the world, refueling in Fairbanks and flying the survey on day two, and a low-altitude nighttime…
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IceBridge Team Settles in the North
Operation IceBridge has returned to the Arctic for a second Greenland season collecting critical measurements of Arctic sea ice cover and thickness and Greenland’s coastal outlet glaciers. Traveling on a DC8 outfitted as a cargo plane with only 6 rows of seats, the team flew from Baltimore MD to Thule in northern Greenland. The workhorse…
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Reflections
We are finally back from Greenland, bringing to a close the data collection piece of the spring 2010 Ice Bridge campaign. During my month-long piece in this campaign our time was split between two West Greenland base -camps, Kangerlussuaq and Thule (also known as Qaanaaq). Thule, at the northern end of Greenland, is the farthest…
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The shrinking face of Jacobshavn Isbrae (Glacier)
Jacobshavn Isbrae is one of the fastest moving and most productive glaciers in the world. Scientists estimate that close to the snout (front) its movement has accelerated in recent years from 20 to 40 meters a day. At the same time that the front has accelerated the glacier has been rapidly retreating through ‘calving’ (large sections breaking…
