Field Study Sheds New Light on Melt Zone

Five years after a NASA-funded field study returned to to set up camp once again in the melt zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a new study adds to the rich findings from this innovative project. We look back on this bold undertaking, which featured helicopters, floating drifters plunging into holes in the ice, and all-night shifts operating a sonic boogie board under endless daylight. Scientist Larry Smith, at the time with UCLA and now with Brown University, takes us back to the challenges on the ice and the important findings made with the hard-won data.