High-resolution ice thickness and bed topography of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet

• Published in: Earth System Science Data
• Main Authors: Lindbäck, Katrin, Pettersson, Rickard, Doyle, S. H., Helanow, C., Jansson, P., Kristensen, S. S., Stenseng, L., Forsberg, R., Hubbard, A. L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära 2014
• Subjects: Physical Geography; Naturgeografi; Greenland; Isunnguata Sermia; Ørkendalen; glacier; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-233536; https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-6-331-2014

We present ice thickness and bed topography maps with a high spatial resolution (250–500 m) of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet derived from ground-based and airborne radar surveys. The data have a total area of ~12 000 km2 and cover the whole ablation area of the outlet glaciers of Isunnguata Sermia, Russell, Leverett, Ørkendalen and Isorlersuup up to the long-term mass balance equilibrium line altitude at ~1600 m above sea level. The bed topography shows highly variable subglacial trough systems, and the trough of Isunnguata Sermia Glacier is overdeepened and reaches an elevation of ~500 m below sea level. The ice surface is smooth and only reflects the bedrock topography in a subtle way, resulting in a highly variable ice thickness. The southern part of our study area consists of higher bed elevations compared to the northern part. The compiled data sets of ground-based and airborne radar surveys cover one of the most studied regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet and can be valuable for detailed studies of ice sheet dynamics and hydrology. The combined data set is freely available at doi:10.1594/pangaea.830314.