For the first time, researchers have collected detailed measurements of water vapor high above the surface of the Greenland ice sheet.
For the first time, researchers have collected detailed measurements of water vapor high above the surface of the Greenland ice sheet. Their research, aided by a custom-designed drone, could help scientists improve ice loss calculations in rapidly warming polar regions.
We will be able to understand how water moves in and out of Greenland in the next few years,” said first author Kevin Rozmiarek, a doctoral student at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at CU Boulder. “As a major freshwater reservoir, we need to understand how Greenland’s environment is going to change in the future.”
The findings were published March 14 in JGR Atmospheres.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Greenland lost about 55 gigatons of ice and snow between fall 2023 and fall 2024. The island is shedding ice for the 28th year in a row, and scientists estimate that it has lost more than 5 trillion tons of ice since 1992.
Read more at: University of Colorado Boulder
A pneumatically launched drone bound for collecting air samples for isotopic analysis at EastGRIP, Greenland. (Photo Credit: Ole Zeising/Alfred-Wegener-Institute)
