Back to Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbrae .... sort of)

 We got funded to return to Greenland with the goal of better characterizing what drives the seasonal variability of ice flow. Most of that work is remote sensing and modeling. But we are also hoping to get some detailed measurements of ice flow.

The trip did not start out well. We boarded a military C-130 aircraft to get to Greenland. But a fuel stop in Goose Bay (Canada) turned into an unexpected three day stop, because of a mechanical airplane issue.

  

But when we finally got to Ilulissat, we had one of these magical evenings by the ice fjord. 

 

Unfortunately that didn't last. The weather turned bad and never really improved much. We had to go home almost empty handed. One day it cleared up enough to fly to the calving front and put up some cameras

Looking down at the ice in the terminus area with its strange ribbon structure.

The calving front:

Root Glacier radar survey

The National Park Service funded us to do a radar survey on the Kennicott and Root Glaciers by McCarthy. Most of that survey happened later, using a helicopter radar. But we also wanted to do some ground based surveys to compare the airborne data to. 

So Brandon Tober, Mike Loso and I headed up the Root Glacier to drag the radar across the glacier. I hadn't been in McCarthy in winter in many years and it was just absolutely gorgeous to experience the place at a time when it is not so hectic.

View back on the Kennicott Glacier, on the way to the Root Glacier

Towing radar antennas with Doug the Dog

And here are some results that Brandon picked from the radargrams, showing that the glacier is over 400 m thick in this area.