Thursday 25 August 2005

G7

PTH0086
Recent flow velocities at the front of Jacobshavn Isbrae/Greenland from 2004 field observations
Dietrich, Reinhard¹, Maas, Hans-Gerd², Bäßler, Michael¹, Rülke, Axel¹, Schwalbe, Ellen²
1 TU Dresden, Institut fuer Planetare Geodaesie, Germany
2 TU Dresden, Institut fuer Photogrammetrie und Fernerkundung, Germany
Author email: dietrich@ipg.geo.tu-dresden.de
The Jacobshavn Isbrae is one of the most dynamic outlet glaciers of the Greenland ice sheet. For the recent time, a remarkable retreat of the ice front and an increasing flow velocity have been reported. In August 2004, geodetic field work was carried out next to the present position of the front of the Jacobshavn Isbrae. By means of ground-based observations the flow velocity field was determined, covering an area from the ice front up to 5 km upstream. The observation concept and the data analysis will be described in detail. The obtained velocities range up to 40 m/day, which supports recently published findings based on satellite remote sensing data. Compared to observations performed 20 years ago, the flow velocities increased by a factor of two. The consequences for the mass balance of the Jacobshavn Isbrae and its catchment area will be discussed.

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