Visualizing Change with Landsat at Helheim Glacier, East Greenland, 1972 to 2020

Abstract:

The availability of a well-located Landsat 1 Multispectral Scanner (MSS) image from early September 1972, followed by ongoing acquisitions up through Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager (OLI), and the extensive heat wave and associated melt events across Greenland in 2019 (Cullather et al., in review) provided the basis for a retrospective of Helheim Glacier ice front changes. Further, many clear acquisitions by OLI in 2019 reveal the impact of this unusual heat wave and associated melt season on this large outlet glacier. Subsequent OLI imagery from the 2020 summer season provide a useful contrast to what was observed in 2019.

This presentation will highlight the available clear, near-peak melt season imagery that has allowed a succession of ice front positions to be documented starting with the MSS image mentioned above, acquisitions by Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), as well as recent OLI imagery. The presence of a recurring small ice front polynya caused by upwelling warm water was observed repeatedly by OLI in 2019 including near the times this open water area was profiled by helicopter-based (D. Holland et al.) and aircraft-based (J. Willis et al.) researchers. These 2019 images provide insights on the persistence of melt water flow at the front of this dynamic glacier.

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2908/landsat-illustrates-five-decades-of-change-to-greenland-glaciers/