Abstract
The Programme for monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) is as an on-going effort to monitor changes in the mass budget of the Greenland Ice Sheet and is operated by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) in collaboration with the National Space Institute (DTU Space) and the Greenland Survey (ASIAQ) started in 2007.
A central part of PROMICE is the network of presently 22 automatic weather stations (AWS) situated in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet. In combination with air borne surveys of ice thickness and mapping of ice velocities estimates of the mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet can be made. Also mapping of individual glaciers and ice caps surrounding the ice sheet is done to assess the mass loss. The PROMICE data can be used directly as indicators of climate change - becoming more and more valuable as the monitoring period increases. Furthermore the programme contributes through observations to process-oriented studies to understand the mass loss as well as validation efforts to improve ice sheet models and future predictions. PROMICE is committed to maintain an accessible, safe and thoroughly documented database for storing and disseminating the data free of charge to the climate research community.
This report updates on PROMICE activities for the year 2014. It is not intended to give a complete overview of the programme. More information about PROMICE may be found in the earlier PROMICE reports (Ahlstrøm et al., 2011, Andersen et al., 2013, Andersen et al., 2014).
The mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has increased significantly since the beginning of this century. Even though 2014 has not been a record year, large melt rates were observed. In 2014 there was a weak tendency towards inflow of warmer air from the South along the West coast of Greenland (North Atlantic Oscillation in the negative phase). This lead to melting roughly around the 2008-2012 average and considerably higher than in 2013, yet lower than in the record melt years 2010 and 2012.
Some main achievements for 2014 are:
- Successful monitoring by 22 Greenland ice sheet automatic weather stations
- A new weather station was installed on the Kobbefjord glacier
- The first results of quantifying the dynamic mass loss from the entire Greenland ice sheet were published
- The first ice velocity maps of the entire ice sheet margin were made in collaboration with the ESA CCI Ice Sheets project
- Intensified collaboration with DMI on evaluating and improving ice sheet models using PROMICE observations
- The PROMICE historical mass balance data base was finalized and was made freely available for download on the PROMICE website (see Newsletter no. 7, Appendix D)
- The PROMICE aerophotogrammetric map of all Greenland peripheral glaciers and ice caps and were made freely available for download on the PROMICE website
- Ice thickness measurements from the PROMICE airborne survey data were made freely available for download on the PROMICE website
A central part of PROMICE is the network of presently 22 automatic weather stations (AWS) situated in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet. In combination with air borne surveys of ice thickness and mapping of ice velocities estimates of the mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet can be made. Also mapping of individual glaciers and ice caps surrounding the ice sheet is done to assess the mass loss. The PROMICE data can be used directly as indicators of climate change - becoming more and more valuable as the monitoring period increases. Furthermore the programme contributes through observations to process-oriented studies to understand the mass loss as well as validation efforts to improve ice sheet models and future predictions. PROMICE is committed to maintain an accessible, safe and thoroughly documented database for storing and disseminating the data free of charge to the climate research community.
This report updates on PROMICE activities for the year 2014. It is not intended to give a complete overview of the programme. More information about PROMICE may be found in the earlier PROMICE reports (Ahlstrøm et al., 2011, Andersen et al., 2013, Andersen et al., 2014).
The mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has increased significantly since the beginning of this century. Even though 2014 has not been a record year, large melt rates were observed. In 2014 there was a weak tendency towards inflow of warmer air from the South along the West coast of Greenland (North Atlantic Oscillation in the negative phase). This lead to melting roughly around the 2008-2012 average and considerably higher than in 2013, yet lower than in the record melt years 2010 and 2012.
Some main achievements for 2014 are:
- Successful monitoring by 22 Greenland ice sheet automatic weather stations
- A new weather station was installed on the Kobbefjord glacier
- The first results of quantifying the dynamic mass loss from the entire Greenland ice sheet were published
- The first ice velocity maps of the entire ice sheet margin were made in collaboration with the ESA CCI Ice Sheets project
- Intensified collaboration with DMI on evaluating and improving ice sheet models using PROMICE observations
- The PROMICE historical mass balance data base was finalized and was made freely available for download on the PROMICE website (see Newsletter no. 7, Appendix D)
- The PROMICE aerophotogrammetric map of all Greenland peripheral glaciers and ice caps and were made freely available for download on the PROMICE website
- Ice thickness measurements from the PROMICE airborne survey data were made freely available for download on the PROMICE website
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Copenhagen |
| Publisher | GEUS |
| Number of pages | 103 |
| Volume | 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Jan 2016 |
Publication series
| Series | Danmarks og Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse Rapport |
|---|---|
| Number | 88 |
| Volume | 2015 |
Keywords
- Greenland
Programme Area
- Programme Area 5: Nature and Climate
