Greenland ice sheet roverNASA reports that its Greenland Rover, or Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle

Greenland ice sheet roverNASA reports that its Greenland Rover, or Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research (GROVER for short) has begun tests on the Greenland ice sheet. The GROVER is an autonomous solar-powered robot which carries ground-penetrating radar to explore the levels of snow and ice accumulation on the arctic ice pack. It will be used to chart the gains and losses in ice across the ice sheet. GROVER arrived at Summit Camp, at 3.2km above sea level the highest point on Greenland, on May 6th and has begun tests led by the Goddard Space Flight Center glaciologists there. The conditions that GROVER will operate under are taxing … tests commenced as the wind reached 37 km per hour, and temperatures dropped to -30 ˚C.Crawling slowly on its caterpillar tracks, GROVER will operate through the Arctic summer, carrying two large photovoltaic panel arrays on its back which will collect direct and reflected sunlight to charge it batteries.In 2012, almost 97% of Greenland’s surface layer of snow and ice melted, surpassing any previously recorded melt, with melt reaching even Summit Camp. GROVER will be able to chart the extent of such ice sheet melting.Ice melt on Greenland is of particular concern for a couple of reasons. First, as the snow and ice melts the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface will decrease, causing more sunlight to be absorbed resulting in further warming. Secondly, the ice that melts off Greenland will result in sea level rise as well as having the potential to perturb ocean circulation in the North Atlantic due to increased input of cold dense fresh water at high latitudes.~SATRImage Credit: Lora Koenig / NASA GoddardTrack GROVER on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NASA_ICENASA Goddard on fb: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC -- source link

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