Proglacial river stage derived from georectified time-lapse camera images, Inglefield Land, Northwest Greenland

Seth N. Goldstein, Jonathan C. Ryan, Penelope R. How, Sarah E. Esenther, Lincoln H. Pitcher, Adam L. LeWinter, Brandon T. Overstreet, Ethan D. Kyzivat, Jessica V. Fayne, Laurence C. Smith

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftArtikelForskningpeer review

1 Citationer (Scopus)

Resumé

The Greenland Ice Sheet is a leading source of global sea level rise, due to surface meltwater runoff and glacier calving. However, given a scarcity of proglacial river gauge measurements, ice sheet runoff remains poorly quantified. This lack of in situ observations is particularly acute in Northwest Greenland, a remote area releasing significant runoff and where traditional river gauging is exceptionally challenging. Here, we demonstrate that georectified time-lapse camera images accurately retrieve stage fluctuations of the proglacial Minturn River, Inglefield Land, over a 3 year study period. Camera images discern the river’s wetted shoreline position, and a terrestrial LiDAR scanner (TLS) scan of riverbank microtopography enables georectification of these positions to vertical estimates of river stage. This non-contact approach captures seasonal, diurnal, and episodic runoff draining a large (∼2,800 km2) lobe of grounded ice at Inglefield Land with good accuracy relative to traditional in situ bubble-gauge measurements (r2 = 0.81, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) ±0.185 m for image collection at 3-h frequency; r2 = 0.92, RMSE ±0.109 m for resampled average daily frequency). Furthermore, camera images effectively supplement other instrument data gaps during icy and/or low flow conditions, which challenge bubble-gauges and other contact-based instruments. This benefit alone extends the effective seasonal hydrological monitoring period by ∼2–4 weeks each year for the Minturn River. We conclude that low-cost, non-contact time-lapse camera methods offer good promise for monitoring proglacial meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet and other harsh polar environments.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer960363
Antal sider11
TidsskriftFrontiers in Earth Science
Vol/bind11
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 9 jun. 2023

Programområde

  • Programområde 5: Natur og klima

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