Meltwater input, flow and calving of Arctic glaciers

A particularly important subject albeit poorly understood is the connection between glacier meltwater supply and ice velocity, which represents a potentially important positive feedback in the response of Arctic glaciers to increased ambient temperatures. As mentioned before, satellites have detected accelerating and thinning of various Arctic glaciers but, although this has been ascribed to increased meltwater supply to the glacier base, a robust relation between melt water supply and ice velocity has yet to be proposed. SP1 addresses the relation between surface mass balance and ice dynamics of Arctic glaciers using a combined observation and modelling approach. Based on insitu observations of climate, meltwater production and flow velocity of five selected Arctic tidewater glaciers, a relation will be developed that couples the seasonal and interannual velocity fluctuations to spatial and temporal variability in meltwater production.