REMOTE SENSING OF SNOW AND ICE ALONG THE SURFACE AND TO THE BED OF THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET

Climate and altitude are the primary drivers in the distribution of snow facies, ice facies and zones on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet. There are three different facies: ablation, percolation, and dry-snow, and two zones, lake and dirty ice. Delineating changes in the distribution of different facies and zones on glaciers through time is critical to understanding ice sheet surface processes. I seek to understand and delineate the distribution of different facies and zones on the glacier Isunnguata Sermia in Greenland for the months of May through September in 2010. To delineate the different zones and facies, I used daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images for the months of May through September. I downloaded bands 1-6 at 500 meter resolution, reprojected and enhanced each image by running a principle components analysis and creating RGB color composite for each day. I found that the zones moved to higher altitudes later in the summer, with August producing the overall largest change. To investigate the ice below the surface, I used video of thirteen boreholes from June and July 2010. Within the ice, there are two zones: clean ice, and debris-laden ice near the bed. I classified the ice based on clarity of the ice, and the size and amount of debris contained within it. I found that the debris-laden ice was only found within 2 meters of the bed, none was found at the surface in the study area