The extreme melt across the Greenland ice sheet in 2012

The discovery of the 2012 extreme melt event across almost the entire surface of the Greenland ice sheet is presented. Data from three different satellite sensors – including the Oceansat‐2 scatterometer, the Moderate‐resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder – are combined to obtain composite melt maps, representing the most complete melt conditions detectable across the ice sheet. Satellite observations reveal that melt occurred at or near the surface of the Greenland ice sheet across 98.6% of its entire extent on 12 July 2012, including the usually cold polar areas at high altitudes like Summit in the dry snow facies of the ice sheet. This melt event coincided…

• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• CI
  California Institute of Technology
• JP
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• GS
  Goddard Space Flight Center