Université de Fribourg

A snow density dataset for improving surface boundary conditions in greenland ice sheet firn modeling

Fausto, Robert S. ; Box, Jason E. ; Vandecrux, Baptiste ; As, Dirk van ; Steffen, Konrad ; MacFerrin, Michael J. ; Machguth, Horst ; Colgan, William ; Koenig, Lora S. ; McGrath, Daniel ; Charalampidis, Charalampos ; Braithwaite, Roger J.

In: Frontiers in Earth Science, 2018, vol. 6, p. -

The surface snow density of glaciers and ice sheets is of fundamental importance in converting volume to mass in both altimetry and surface mass balance studies, yet it is often poorly constrained. Site-specific surface snow densities are typically derived from empirical relations based on temperature and wind speed. These parameterizations commonly calculate the average density of the top...

Université de Fribourg

The abandoned ice sheet base at Camp Century, Greenland, in a warming climate

Colgan, William ; Machguth, Horst ; MacFerrin, Mike ; Colgan, Jeff D. ; As, Dirk van ; MacGregor, Joseph A.

In: Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, vol. 43, no. 15, p. 8091–8096

In 1959 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Camp Century beneath the surface of the northwestern Greenland Ice Sheet. There they studied the feasibility of deploying ballistic missiles within the ice sheet. The base and its wastes were abandoned with minimal decommissioning in 1967, under the assumption they would be preserved for eternity by perpetually accumulating snowfall. Here we show...