Calving glaciers

In the last decades, many ocean-terminating glaciers from the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced thinning and rapid retreat, which in turn affected the global loss of ice and contributed to sea-level rise. Approximately half of the ice ablation of the Greenland Ice Sheet is due to calving, i.e. the release of icebergs at the edge of glaciers.

The calving mechanism is still not entirely understood, mostly because of the complex interconnection between involved processes. Among them, the ice flow velocities are crucial data since they determine the crevassing responsible for iceberg calving events. Using UAV photogrammetry and feature-tracking, ice flow velocities can be continuously monitored from the first crack initiation to the final collapse.

On going researches on UAV-monitoring and modelling of iceberg calving processes are led in the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology.