The Case for a Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet-Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS)

Abstract

Rapid mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is affecting sea level and, through increased freshwater and sediment discharge, ocean circulation, sea-ice, biogeochemistry, and marine ecosystems around Greenland. Key to interpreting ongoing and projecting future ice loss, and its impact on the ocean, is understanding exchanges of heat, freshwater, and nutrients that occur at the GrIS marine margins. Processes governing these exchanges are not well understood because of limited observations from the regions where glaciers terminate into the ocean and the challenge of modeling the spatial and temporal scales involved. Thus, notwithstanding their importance, ice sheet/ocean exchanges are poorly represented or not accounted for in models used for projection studies. Widespread community consensus maintains that concurrent and long-term records of glaciological, oceanic, and atmospheric parameters at the ice sheet/ocean margins are key to addressing this knowledge gap by informing understanding, and constraining and validating models. Through a series of workshops and documents endorsed by the community-at-large, a framework for an international, collaborative, Greenland Ice sheet-Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS), that addresses the needs of society in relation to a changing GrIS, has been proposed. This system would consist of a set of ocean, glacier, and atmosphere essential variables to be collected at a number of diverse sites around Greenland for a minimum of two decades. Internationally agreed upon data protocols and data sharing policies would guarantee uniformity and availability of the information for the broader community. Its

Review article: How does glacier discharge affect marine biogeochemistry and primary production in the Arctic?

“…Similarly, in environments where inorganic PO 4 concentrations are low, DOP may be a relatively more important source of phosphorous for both bacteria and phytoplankton. Many freshwater and marine phytoplankton species are able to synthesize the enzyme alkaline phosphatase in order to efficiently utilize DOP (Hoppe, 2003;Štrojsová et al, 2005). In the context of stratified, low-salinity inner-fjord environments, where inorganic PO 4 concentrations are potentially low enough to limit primary production (Prado-Fiedler, 2009), this process may be particularly important -yet DOP dynamics are understudied in glaciated catchments with limited data available (Stibal et al, 2009.…”

Review Article: How does glacier discharge affect marine biogeochemistry and primary production in the Arctic?

“…Complementing these approaches are developments in the rapidlymaturing field of miniaturized chemical sensors suitable for use in cryosphere environments (Beaton et al, 2012). Such technology will ultimately reduce much of the uncertainty associated with glacier-ocean interactions by facilitating more comprehensive, more sustainable field campaigns (Straneo et al, 2019), with reduced costs and environmental footprints (Nightingale et al, 2015;Grand et al, 2017Grand et al, , 2019. This is evidenced by a successful prolonged mooring deployment in the Santa Inés glacier-fjord system (Fig.…”

“…The uniqueness of glacier-fjord systems, due to highly variable fjord circulation and geometry, is itself a formidable challenge in 'scaling-up' results from Arctic field studies to produce a process-based understanding of glacier-ocean interactions. A proposed solution, which works equally well for physical, chemical and biological perspectives, is to focus intensively on a select number of key field sites at the land-ocean interface rather than mainly on large numbers of broad-scale, summertime-only surveys (Straneo et al, 2019). In addition to facilitating long-term time series, focusing in detail on fewer systems facilitates greater seasonal coverage to understand the changes in circulation and productivity that occur before, during, and after the melt season.…”

Retrieval of Ice Samples Using the Ice Drone

“…IceDrone may also increase productivity on research vessels where logistical resources like small boats and helicopters are in high demand, and, even when they are available, their use is strongly weather-dependent for obvious safety reasons. While IceDrone was originally developed with icebergs in mind, it may also be used to obtain samples from other potentially hazardous environments, such as thin sea ice and on glaciers and should considered for use in large-scale monitoring programs (e.g., Druckenmiller et al, 2009;Straneo et al, 2019). expedition.…”