Maker Buoy Variants for Water Level Monitoring and Tracking Drifting Objects in Remote Areas of Greenland.

Daniel F Carlson,Andreas E Hass,Wayne J Pavalko,Dorthe Petersen,Martin Olsen

doi:10.3390/s20051254

Abstract

Meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet changes water levels in glacial lakes and can lead to glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF) events that threaten lives and property. Icebergs produced at Greenland’s marine terminating glaciers drift into Baffin Bay and the North Atlantic, where they can threaten shipping and offshore installations. Thus, monitoring glacial lake water levels and the drift of icebergs can enhance safety and aid in the scientific studies of glacial hydrology and iceberg-ocean interactions. The Maker Buoy was originally designed as a low-cost and open source sensor to monitor surface ocean currents. The open source framework, low-cost components, rugged construction and affordable satellite data transmission capabilities make it easy to customize for environmental monitoring in remote areas and under harsh conditions. Here, we present two such Maker Buoy variants that were developed to monitor water level in an ice-infested glacial lake in southern Greenland and to track drifting icebergs and moorings in the Vaigat Strait (Northwest Greenland). We describe the construction of each design variant, methods to access data in the field without an internet connection, and deployments in Greenland in summer 2019. The successful deployments of each Maker Buoy variant suggest that they may also be useful in operational iceberg management strategies and in GLOF monitoring programs.

Highlights

Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has accelerated in recent years [1,2,3,4]
Data can be accessed in the field using a laptop computer and the same Iridium modem used in the Maker Buoy. This manuscript is organized as follows: In Section 2 we describe both variants of the Maker Buoy, data access and data management, and both study areas
Examination of the test data revealed that the buoys reported significantly different pressures when one measured with the box open and the other with the box closed, which suggested that the initial vent installation did not ensure adequate pressure equalization (Figure 7A)

Summary

Introduction

Meltwater can take multiple pathways to the ocean where it contributes to global sea level rise [5] and impacts stratification in fjord and shelf waters [6,7]. Ice-dammed lakes, fed by meltwater runoff, recurrently drain catastrophically through temporary subglacial conduits, resulting in glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF) [1,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. GLOF events can threaten lives and property [11,15,16] and lead to rapid changes in temperature and salinity in proglacial fjord waters [17,18]. Relies heavily on satellite remote sensing data [12,20].

Methods

Results

Conclusion