RAPID: Recovery of Data from the 5 August 2010 Petermann Glacier Breakup

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

This project uses funds, under the auspices of the Rapid Response Research (RAPID) concept grants, to investigate the single most extensive loss of ice from a Greenland glacier known to date that occurred between August 3 through 5, 2010. Specifically, the investigator will use the funds to retrieve data sensors and other equipment, such as time lapse cameras and GPS units, that were in place at the time of the ice loss and that are now adrift on an ice island that has become detached from the Petermann Glacier. If the ice island fractures into smaller pieces, it will become more difficult to find the site and the sensors could be lost forever in the sea. The intellectual merits of the proposed work include: 1) increasing the understanding of the dynamics associated with ice shelf disintegration including deriving a precise quantitative assessment of the flow speed changes of up-stream glacier ice post-detachment; 2) time-lapse camera and GPS data will yield quantitative measurements of the effects of ocean tides on ice velocity; and 3) ice flexure measured by the GPS will inform ice shelf rheology studies. The broader impacts include: 1) capturing details of the 275 km2 Petermann Glacier breakup occurring between 3 and 5 August, 2010. The details added by this in-situ data recovery will add much onto what is being learned from the satellite perspective; and 2) the ability to share with the world the imagery of the actual breakup event from the time-lapse cameras. The proposed activities fit well into the potentially transformative, high risk, and quick-response research on natural or anthropogenic disasters nature of the RAPID program.