Subglacial conditions of Engabreen

An article has been published in Journal of Glaciology on modelling the basal conditions of Engabreen. The title of the article is “Basal conditions at Engabreen, Norway, inferred from surface measurements and inverse modelling». What’s so special about this article? It’s not the first time that scientists used a numerical model to study conditions at the base of a glacier. However, in this case we actually have measurements from the Svartisen Subglacial Laboratory of some of the parameters used in the model. Basal sliding and basal shear stress were measured in the laboratory and used to tune the model. Velocity of the glacier surface is also important. We have measured the movement of stakes on the glacier for several years, but now it’s also possible to get these data from satellites as a scientist at the University of Oslo has done. This was genuine Nordic co-operation through the Nordic Centre of Excellence SVALI (Stability and Variations of Arctic Land Ice) with scientists from Norway, Denmark and Finland involved.

Reference: 

Solgaard, A. M., A. Messerli, T. Schellenberger, C. Hvidberg, A. Grinsted, M. Jackson, T. Zwinger, N. Karlson and D. Dahl-Jensen. 2018. Basal conditions at Engabreen, Norway, inferred from surface measurements and inverse modelling. Journal of Glaciology, 1-13. doi:10.1017/jog.2018.45.