Earth  ID: 3630

Jakobshavn Glacier Calving Front Recession from 1851 to 2009

Visualizations by Cindy Starr Released on January 5, 2007
Jakobshavn Isbrae is located on the west coast of Greenland at Latitude 69 N. The ice front, where the glacier calves into the sea, receded more than 40 km between 1850 and 2006. Between 1850 and 1964 the ice front retreated at a steady rate of about 0.3 km/yr, after which it occupied approximately the same location until 2001, when the ice front began to recede again, but far more rapidly at about 3 km/yr. As more ice moves from glaciers on land into the ocean, it causes a rise in sea level. Jakobshavn Isbrae is Greenland's largest outlet glacier, draining 6.5 percent of Greenland's ice sheet area. The ice stream's speed-up and near-doubling of the ice flow from land into the ocean has increased the rate of sea level rise by about .06 millimeters (about .002 inches) per year, or roughly 4 percent of the 20th century rate of sea level increase.
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In this image, the location of the successive calving fronts of the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier between 1851 and 2009 are overlain on a Landsat image from 7/29/2009.

Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Bob Bindschadler (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Historic calving front locations courtesy of Anker Weidick and Ole Bennike, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.

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Missions:
Terra
Landsat

Data Used:
Landsat-7/ETM+/Band Combination 3, 2, 1
2009-07-29
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Landsat-7/ETM+/Band Combination 7, 4, 2
2009-07-29
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Landsat/TM/Calving Front Line
Analysis - 2009-07-29, 2004-10-03, 2003-08-23, 2002-09-03, 2001-07-07
Calving front lines derived from Landsat imagery.
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Terra/ASTER/Calving Front Lines
Analysis - 2005-07-02, 2006-08-08
Calving front lines derived from Terra/ASTER imagery.
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> Global Warming
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glacier Motion/Ice Sheet Motion
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glaciers
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Growth/Melt
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Coastal Processes >> Sea Level Rise
GCMD >> Location >> Greenland
SVS >> Copenhagen
SVS >> For Educators
NASA Science >> Earth
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Solid Earth >> Geomorphic Landforms/processes >> Glacial Processes

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0