Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data
Marine-terminating glaciers dominate the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and its contribution to sea-level rise. Widespread glacier acceleration has been linked to the warming of ocean waters around the periphery of Greenland but a lack of information on the bathymetry of the continental...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1815a720eb6142b5aa44c76ff3604c4b 2023-05-15T16:21:12+02:00 Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data Lu An Eric Rignot Romain Millan Kirsty Tinto Josh Willis 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11020131 https://doaj.org/article/1815a720eb6142b5aa44c76ff3604c4b EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/2/131 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs11020131 https://doaj.org/article/1815a720eb6142b5aa44c76ff3604c4b Remote Sensing, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 131 (2019) remote sensing gravity bathymetry Greenland glaciology ice-ocean interaction climate change Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11020131 2022-12-31T07:30:35Z Marine-terminating glaciers dominate the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and its contribution to sea-level rise. Widespread glacier acceleration has been linked to the warming of ocean waters around the periphery of Greenland but a lack of information on the bathymetry of the continental shelf and glacial fjords has limited our ability to understand how subsurface, warm, salty ocean waters of Atlantic origin (AW) reach the glaciers and melt them from below. Here, we employ high-resolution, airborne gravity data (AIRGrav) in combination with multibeam echo sounding (MBES) data, to infer the bathymetry of the coastal areas of Northwest Greenland for NASA’s Ocean Melting Greenland (OMG) mission. High-resolution, AIRGrav data acquired on a 2 km spacing, 150 m ground clearance, with 1.5 mGal crossover error, is inverted in three dimensions to map the bathymetry. To constrain the inversion away from MBES data, we compare two methods: one based on the Direct Current (DC) shift of the gravity field (absolute minus observed gravity) and another based on the density of the bedrock. We evaluate and compare the two methods in areas with complete MBES coverage. We find the lowest standard error in bed elevation (±60 m) using the DC shift method. When applied to the entire coast of Northwest Greenland, the three-dimensional inversion reveals a complex network of connected sea bed channels, not known previously, that provide natural and varied pathways for AW to reach the glaciers across the continental shelf. The study demonstrates that the gravity approach offers an efficient and practical alternative to extensive ship mapping in ice-filled waters to obtain information critical to understanding and modeling ice-ocean interaction along ice sheet margins. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Remote Sensing 11 2 131 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
remote sensing gravity bathymetry Greenland glaciology ice-ocean interaction climate change Science Q |
spellingShingle |
remote sensing gravity bathymetry Greenland glaciology ice-ocean interaction climate change Science Q Lu An Eric Rignot Romain Millan Kirsty Tinto Josh Willis Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data |
topic_facet |
remote sensing gravity bathymetry Greenland glaciology ice-ocean interaction climate change Science Q |
description |
Marine-terminating glaciers dominate the evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and its contribution to sea-level rise. Widespread glacier acceleration has been linked to the warming of ocean waters around the periphery of Greenland but a lack of information on the bathymetry of the continental shelf and glacial fjords has limited our ability to understand how subsurface, warm, salty ocean waters of Atlantic origin (AW) reach the glaciers and melt them from below. Here, we employ high-resolution, airborne gravity data (AIRGrav) in combination with multibeam echo sounding (MBES) data, to infer the bathymetry of the coastal areas of Northwest Greenland for NASA’s Ocean Melting Greenland (OMG) mission. High-resolution, AIRGrav data acquired on a 2 km spacing, 150 m ground clearance, with 1.5 mGal crossover error, is inverted in three dimensions to map the bathymetry. To constrain the inversion away from MBES data, we compare two methods: one based on the Direct Current (DC) shift of the gravity field (absolute minus observed gravity) and another based on the density of the bedrock. We evaluate and compare the two methods in areas with complete MBES coverage. We find the lowest standard error in bed elevation (±60 m) using the DC shift method. When applied to the entire coast of Northwest Greenland, the three-dimensional inversion reveals a complex network of connected sea bed channels, not known previously, that provide natural and varied pathways for AW to reach the glaciers across the continental shelf. The study demonstrates that the gravity approach offers an efficient and practical alternative to extensive ship mapping in ice-filled waters to obtain information critical to understanding and modeling ice-ocean interaction along ice sheet margins. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lu An Eric Rignot Romain Millan Kirsty Tinto Josh Willis |
author_facet |
Lu An Eric Rignot Romain Millan Kirsty Tinto Josh Willis |
author_sort |
Lu An |
title |
Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data |
title_short |
Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data |
title_full |
Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data |
title_fullStr |
Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bathymetry of Northwest Greenland Using “Ocean Melting Greenland” (OMG) High-Resolution Airborne Gravity and Other Data |
title_sort |
bathymetry of northwest greenland using “ocean melting greenland” (omg) high-resolution airborne gravity and other data |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11020131 https://doaj.org/article/1815a720eb6142b5aa44c76ff3604c4b |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 131 (2019) |
op_relation |
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/2/131 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs11020131 https://doaj.org/article/1815a720eb6142b5aa44c76ff3604c4b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11020131 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
131 |
_version_ |
1766009208240603136 |