Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet
Firn aquifers in Greenland store liquid water within the upper ice sheet and impact the hydrological system. Their location and area have been estimated with airborne radar sounder surveys (Operation IceBridge, OIB). However, the OIB coverage is limited to narrow flight lines, offering an incomplete...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:8684945 2023-06-11T04:12:07+02:00 Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet Brangers, I Lievens, Hans Miege, C. Demuzere, Matthias Brucker, L. De Lannoy, G. J. M. 2020 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8684945 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085192 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945/file/8684946 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8684945 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085192 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945/file/8684946 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS ISSN: 0094-8276 ISSN: 1944-8007 Earth and Environmental Sciences MELTWATER STORAGE SURFACE-PROPERTIES RADAR SCATTEROMETER SNOW journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2020 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085192 2023-04-19T22:08:31Z Firn aquifers in Greenland store liquid water within the upper ice sheet and impact the hydrological system. Their location and area have been estimated with airborne radar sounder surveys (Operation IceBridge, OIB). However, the OIB coverage is limited to narrow flight lines, offering an incomplete view. Here, we show the ability of satellite radar measurements from Sentinel-1 to map firn aquifers across all of Greenland at 1 km(2) resolution. The detection of aquifers relies on a delay in the freezing of meltwater within the firn above the water table, causing a distinctive pattern in the radar backscatter. The Sentinel-1 aquifer locations are in very good agreement with those detected along the OIB flight lines (Cohen's kappa = 0.84). The total aquifer area is estimated at 54,800 km(2). With continuity of Sentinel-1 ensured until 2030, our study lays a foundation for monitoring the future response of firn aquifers to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet Ghent University Academic Bibliography Greenland The Sentinel ENVELOPE(73.317,73.317,-52.983,-52.983) Geophysical Research Letters 47 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth and Environmental Sciences MELTWATER STORAGE SURFACE-PROPERTIES RADAR SCATTEROMETER SNOW |
spellingShingle |
Earth and Environmental Sciences MELTWATER STORAGE SURFACE-PROPERTIES RADAR SCATTEROMETER SNOW Brangers, I Lievens, Hans Miege, C. Demuzere, Matthias Brucker, L. De Lannoy, G. J. M. Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet |
topic_facet |
Earth and Environmental Sciences MELTWATER STORAGE SURFACE-PROPERTIES RADAR SCATTEROMETER SNOW |
description |
Firn aquifers in Greenland store liquid water within the upper ice sheet and impact the hydrological system. Their location and area have been estimated with airborne radar sounder surveys (Operation IceBridge, OIB). However, the OIB coverage is limited to narrow flight lines, offering an incomplete view. Here, we show the ability of satellite radar measurements from Sentinel-1 to map firn aquifers across all of Greenland at 1 km(2) resolution. The detection of aquifers relies on a delay in the freezing of meltwater within the firn above the water table, causing a distinctive pattern in the radar backscatter. The Sentinel-1 aquifer locations are in very good agreement with those detected along the OIB flight lines (Cohen's kappa = 0.84). The total aquifer area is estimated at 54,800 km(2). With continuity of Sentinel-1 ensured until 2030, our study lays a foundation for monitoring the future response of firn aquifers to climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brangers, I Lievens, Hans Miege, C. Demuzere, Matthias Brucker, L. De Lannoy, G. J. M. |
author_facet |
Brangers, I Lievens, Hans Miege, C. Demuzere, Matthias Brucker, L. De Lannoy, G. J. M. |
author_sort |
Brangers, I |
title |
Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet |
title_short |
Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet |
title_full |
Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet |
title_fullStr |
Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet |
title_sort |
sentinel-1 detects firn aquifers in the greenland ice sheet |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8684945 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085192 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945/file/8684946 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(73.317,73.317,-52.983,-52.983) |
geographic |
Greenland The Sentinel |
geographic_facet |
Greenland The Sentinel |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS ISSN: 0094-8276 ISSN: 1944-8007 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8684945 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085192 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8684945/file/8684946 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085192 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
3 |
_version_ |
1768387753778610176 |