Investigating the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Water Saturation Within the Greenland Firn Aquifer Using Ground Penetrating Radar

Abstract:

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is used to investigate the spatial and temporal saturation of the Greenland firn aquifer, using a method recently developed on a Svalbard icesheet (Christianson et. al., 2015). Currently, saturation of the firn is assumed to be 100% (Koenig et. al., 2014; Forster et. al., 2014), and using a firn density correction this saturation level drives the present liquid water volume estimate (140±20 Gt) of the Greenland firn aquifer (Koenig et. al., 2014). Based on earlier studies on mountain glacier firn aquifers, we suspect that saturation levels vary with depth, annual precipitation patterns, and local topography (Fountain, 1989; Christianson et. al., 2015). Refining the liquid water volume estimation is an important parameter as it allows for a better determination of the amount of water potentially available for release and consequent sea level rise, as well as to better model glacial processes such as englacial flow, crevasse fracture, and basal lubrication.

GPR and GPS data collected along a 2.6 km transect in 2011, 2013, and 2014 in southeastern Greenland is used to measure the spatial and temporal variability of saturation levels within the aquifer. A bright reflector seen in the GPR at the water table depth responds to local topography. At surface lows, the reflector rises, intersecting annual density change layers visible in the GPR data. At these intersections, the annual layers deflect down beneath the water table before being lost due to signal attenuation. We assume that this deflection is due to a change in dielectric permittivity, and that by measuring the angle of deflection, and implementing a mixing model and density correction from nearby firn cores, we can determine the saturation level at each point along a deflection. This allows us to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of saturation within the firn aquifer.