Studying and monitoring the Greenland ice sheet using GIS techniques

Glaciers and ice sheets are the most important hydrological resources on Earth and play an important role in the global climate system. The Greenland Ice Sheet stores 9 % of the Earth's fresh water supplies, equivalent to a 7.6 meter rise in global sea level if the ice sheet were to melt completely. With the prospect of rises of sea level related to environmental changes, it is important to monitor and understand the behavior of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This monitoring should encompass the observation and analysis of different parameters, such as surface topography, ice sheet boundaries, ice motion, and snow accumulation. Considering the required high accuracy of the observations, the hostility of polar environments, and the huge area covered by ice, the challenge is obvious. Since it is imperative to monitor the entire ice sheet, a combination of satellite and airborne remote sensing data with relatively small sets of field observation is most opportune. To effectively handle the complex and large data sets, the Greenland GIS Database System (GGDS) was developed. By using GGDS, huge data set can be analyzed and merged on different spatial scales to provide insight into the various processes acting on the ice sheet. By managing the various data in GIS environments, their combination, archival, analysis, display, and search become easier. Moreover, the level of confidence in the data quality increases by validating data against each other. Because the Earth's environment changes dynamically, it will be necessary to repeat complex studies, which can be easily done by updating and retrieving the new data with help of the GIS. The present study not only helps to understand environmental change, but also shows solutions for integrating remote sensing and GIS techniques.