Notification that by August 27, recent snow and the underlying compressed snow, or firn, (white) has actually pulled back, exposing more dirt-stained ice (gray and brown). The darkest blue areas farther inland are saturated firn, melt ponds, and perhaps some ephemeral streams.
Specialist Analysis
Christopher Shuman, a University of Maryland, Baltimore County, glaciologist based at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, identified and examined the two satellite images. In general, “the area is a mishmash of ice, firn, melt, and dirt,” he stated.
Comparison to Previous Melt Seasons
June and July saw stable, higher-than-average melting that kept the season on par with several other high melt seasons in current decades. The spike in late August pressed the cumulative melt area even higher, and the month ended with the second-largest cumulative melt location in the 45-year satellite record, trailing just 2012.
There have been other late-season melt events, notably in September 2010. That occasion pressed the season towards a larger quantity of cumulative melting compared to the 2023 season up until now (as of the start of September).
Implications of Late-Season Melting
Late-season melting contributes to the cumulative losses within a season, however it can also impact future melt seasons. A longer melt season delays the build-up of surface area snow, which in turn can impact the intensity of melting at the start of the next season.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Towards the end of August 2023, unseasonably warm weather condition led to a number of days of extensive melting. The uncommon late-season occasion peaked island-wide on August 22, when melting spanned nearly 282,000 square miles (730,000 square kilometers), or about 45 percent of the ice sheets surface, according to the National Snow and Ice Data.
Notification that by August 27, recent snow and the underlying compressed snow, or firn, (white) has retreated, exposing more dirt-stained ice (brown and gray). The darkest blue areas further inland are saturated firn, melt ponds, and potentially some ephemeral streams.
Satellite picture of Humboldt Glacier, recorded on August 18, 2023, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8.
Satellite picture of Humboldt Glacier, caught on August 27, 2023, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8.
Uncommon late-season melting in Greenland turned the glaciers surface into a collection of ice, firn, melt, and dirt.
Every year from around May to early September, melting takes location atop the vast sheet of ice covering Greenland. Toward completion of August 2023, unseasonably warm weather led to several days of prevalent melting. The uncommon late-season event peaked island-wide on August 22, when melting spanned almost 282,000 square miles (730,000 square kilometers), or about 45 percent of the ice sheets surface, according to the National Snow and Ice Data.
Comparative Imagery of the Humboldt Glacier
This set of images shows the front of Humboldt Glacier in northwest Greenland before and after melting peaked. The images were acquired on August 18 (upper) and August 27 (lower) by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.
