Sunlight Absorption on the Greenland Ice Sheet Experiment (SAGE) - PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The SAGE program is an effort to better understand the processes controlling spatial and temporal variability of albedo on the Greenland Ice Sheet, particularly including the effects of snow grain size, melt condition and impurities such as black carbon. Data was/will be collected throughout Northwestern Greenland by late spring traverses in 2013 and 2014, and 5 autonomous stations deployed by the project will provide continuous observations of meteorological conditions and spectral albedo along the route. Along the traverse route in 2013 __ sites were sampled. Typical sampling at a site involved measuring spectral surface albedo, digging a 2m deep snow pit, characterizing snow stratigraphy in the pit, and sampling for trace contaminents in the snow. Between sites, a ground penetrating radar and differential GPS captured some of the stratigraphic variability. Graphics of the traverse route and preliminary plots of data for the 2013 field season are presented below. We also kept a blog detailing the less-scientific side of the field work here.
2013 Route, Sites, and Autonomous Station Deployments:
