National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Publication Abstracts

Wang et al. 2018

Wang, S., M. Tedesco, M. Xu, and P.M. Alexander, 2018: Mapping ice algal blooms in southwest Greenland from space. Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, no. 21, 11779-11788, doi:10.1029/2018GL080455.

Quantifying the distribution and abundance of ice algae is fundamental for understanding the evolving processes of algal blooms in supraglacial environments, particularly over the Greenland Ice Sheet, given the role of algal impurities in modulating surface albedo and meltwater production. Field observations of ice algae in Greenland are very limited over space and time. Here, we show for the first time the regional variability in algal abundance across the "dark" zone in southwest Greenland, derived from Sentinel-3 images acquired during the summertime in 2016 and 2017. We demonstrate the capacity of Sentinel-3 imagery to characterize the spatial pattern of algal abundance using the reflectance ratios between 709-nm and 673-nm bands, highly consistent with field measurements. The estimated algal abundance reveals a significant linear growth pattern of algal population with time after the peak of dark ice presence, shown to be tightly linked to surface runoff and meltwater production.

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@article{wa09700b,
  author={Wang, S. and Tedesco, M. and Xu, M. and Alexander, P. M.},
  title={Mapping ice algal blooms in southwest Greenland from space},
  year={2018},
  journal={Geophysical Research Letters},
  volume={45},
  number={21},
  pages={11779--11788},
  doi={10.1029/2018GL080455},
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - wa09700b
AU  - Wang, S.
AU  - Tedesco, M.
AU  - Xu, M.
AU  - Alexander, P. M.
PY  - 2018
TI  - Mapping ice algal blooms in southwest Greenland from space
JA  - Geophys. Res. Lett.
JO  - Geophysical Research Letters
VL  - 45
IS  - 21
SP  - 11779
EP  - 11788
DO  - 10.1029/2018GL080455
ER  -

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