Jennifer is keeping a close eye on the glacier

New technology can help researchers map and record how snow and ice covers are changing on glaciers. This can provide helpful knowledge to locals who use glaciers for skiing or snow scooter activities.

By Phillippa Mangalika Maigaard Filtenborg

A team of researchers is using time-lapse photography to map and record how snow and ice covers are changing on glaciers.

Scientist Jennifer Arthur is a Ph.D. researcher at Dunham University and visiting researcher at Asiaq Greenland Survey. She explains what the research is trying to cover:

“We’re doing it to understand how snow conditions change through mount seasons on these glaciers. And this can provide an indicator on how the glaciers are responding to climate changes.”

They installed a time-lapse camera which takes numerous pictures every few hours. This helps them keep track of the changes. For her phone background, she has picked a picture of the Qasigiannguit Glacier in Kobbefjorden, which is one of the glaciers where they are mapping snowline changes.

Since a lot of local people go to these areas for skiing or snow scooter activities, the research team also include locals who provide important observations.

“Local people in Nuuk go skiing or ride their snow scooter on this specific glacier very often. So, by helping us with their observations of the snow cover change, we can make calculations on how late in the mount season they can access these regions.”