[en] Greenland glaciers exhibit variable seasonal velocity signals that may reflect differences in subglacial hydrology. Here, we conduct a first GrIS-wide glacier classification based on seasonal velocity patterns derived from 2017 Sentinel-1 radar data. Our classification focuses on two distinct seasonal ice velocity patterns, with the first (type-2 from Moon and others, 2014) showing periods of both speedup and slowdown during the melt season, and the second (type-3) instead showing a longer period of slowdown from elevated velocities in the winter and spring. We analyze 221 glaciers in 2017 and show that 48 exhibit type-2 behavior, and 72 exhibit type-3 behavior. We extend the classification to 2018 and 2019 and find that while the glaciers meeting each criterion vary year to year, type-2 is consistently more common in the northern regions and type-3 is more common in the south. Our results highlight the varied impact of meltwater on subglacial drainage systems and glacier flow in Greenland.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Vijay, Saurabh ; Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Columbus, United States
King, Michalea D. ; Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Columbus, United States ; School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Howat, Ian M. ; Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Columbus, United States ; School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Solgaard, Anne M. ; Geological Survey of Greenland and Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Khan, Shfaqat Abbas; DTU Space, National Space Institute of Denmark, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Noël, Brice ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Climatologie et Topoclimatologie ; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Language :
English
Title :
Greenland ice-sheet wide glacier classification based on two distinct seasonal ice velocity behaviors
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