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New Hydrometeorological Instrument Cluster at Inglefield Land, NW Greenland
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  • Sarah Esenther,
  • Laurence Smith,
  • Adam LeWinter,
  • Lincoln H Pitcher,
  • Aaron Kehl,
  • Greg Hanlon,
  • Cuyler Onclin,
  • David Finnegan,
  • Brandon Overstreet,
  • Seth Goldstein
Sarah Esenther
Brown University

Corresponding Author:sesenther@gmail.com

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Laurence Smith
Brown University
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Adam LeWinter
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
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Lincoln H Pitcher
University of California Los Angeles
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Aaron Kehl
US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
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Greg Hanlon
US Army Corps of Engineers
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Cuyler Onclin
Environment and Climate Change Canada
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David Finnegan
US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
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Brandon Overstreet
University of Wyoming
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Seth Goldstein
Brown University
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Abstract

Mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is a primary contributor to sea level rise, but substantial uncertainty exists in estimates of future ice sheet losses. Surface mass balance (SMB) models, the current leading approach to sea level rise projection, anticipate continued dominance of runoff as a mass loss pathway. Despite their preeminence, SMB models in vulnerable northern environments lack adequate field validation, particularly for error-sensitive runoff estimates. We have installed a cluster of high quality field instruments at the Minturn Elv, a proglacial river site in Inglefield Land, NW Greenland to provide discharge and weather datasets for the validation and refinement of climate/SMB runoff models. The instrument cluster has meteorological, hydrological, and time lapse camera instrumentation, including a vented water level stage recorder, single shot and scanning lidars, time lapse cameras, and in situ ADCP discharge and terrestrial scanning lidar measurements. The instrument suite provides novel flow and weather datasets with the opportunity to evaluate experimental approaches to stage measurement in adverse, high-latitude areas. Inglefield is a uniquely advantaged location because proglacial runoff is dominated by SMB processes operating on the ice surface without interference from subglacial hydrology. Overall, our hydrometeorological instrument cluster at Inglefield Land will provide one of the few validation datasets for regional climate models outside of Southwest Greenland.