Glacial surface / summer meltwater hydrology

The Greenland Ice Sheet covers about 1.7 million square kilometers and exceeds 3 kilometers in thickness. Its layered ice records past atmospheres, snowfall, volcanic events, and climatic change.

At its western edge, the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord receives ice from Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the world's fastest-moving and most active glaciers.

During summer, meltwater forms supraglacial lakes and drainage channels. Water drains through crevasses and moulins, refreezes, or flows toward the ice margin. The survey records the ice sheet's transient hydrologic network.