PROMICE and GC-Net: Greenland Ice-Sheet Weather Stations
PROMICE and GC-Net put automatic weather stations on the Greenland ice sheet and share the data openly (PROMICE).
Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Joshua Stevens, Landsat data from USGS (Jakobshavn Glacier, Greenland, public domain).
Last reviewed: 2 sources cited
Weather stations standing on the ice tell the world how fast Greenland is melting.
Two Danish-run networks deliver data on the Greenland ice sheet's mass balance in near real time (PROMICE).
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
Explain Like I'm 10
- Greenland is covered by a giant sheet of ice.
- When it melts or drops icebergs, the sea rises a little.
- Weather stations on the ice measure melting and snowfall, so scientists know what is changing.
The Five W's of PROMICE and GC-Net
Who
The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), with DTU Space and Asiaq.
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
What
Networks of on-ice weather stations, plus satellite and GPS tracking of ice flow and icebergs.
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
When
GC-Net started in 1995 and PROMICE in 2007; Denmark took over GC-Net from the US in 2020.
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
Where
The melt zone and the snowy accumulation zone of the Greenland ice sheet.
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
Why
Surface melt and faster iceberg production are the two big drivers of ice-sheet mass loss.
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
Connected Solutions
- Arctic Weather Satellite Watching Arctic weather from orbit.
Impact Statement
Agency solution · active, open data
Stations on the melt zone and the snowy interior measure what the ice gains and loses. The result is a long, open record of Greenland's ice and its push on sea level (PROMICE).
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
GC-Net was founded in 1995 by Prof. Konrad Steffen at CIRES; when US funding ended in 2020, Denmark took it over (PROMICE).
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
The data are of direct use to society and feed international assessment reports on climate (PROMICE).
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
For Nature
Tracking melt and iceberg loss shows how the ice sheet, and its contribution to sea level rise, is changing (PROMICE).
Source: PROMICE and GC-Net, About
Explore the Open Data
Want to go deeper? PROMICE explains how the networks work.
For Further InformationRelated Solutions
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