Greenland Daily and Accumulated Surface Conditions

Click through to the site to get the most up-to-date Daily and Accumulated surface data for the Greenland ice sheet.

The site features:

• Left map/ left tab: Daily contribution to the surface mass balance
• Left map/right tab: Accumulated anomaly of the surface mass balance
• Map on the right: Anomaly of the reflectivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet (the albedo)

The map “Daily change” illustrates the daily changes in the surface mass balance on the Greenland Ice Sheet. The figures are updated daily and show how much mass, in terms of snow, ice and water, is lost or gained on the surface of the ice sheet.

The map ”Accumulated” shows what the complete surface gain and loss has been over the year compared to the period 1990-2013. 

The map to the right shows how much sunlight is reflected from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Bright areas reflect more sunlight than dark areas and as a consequence dark areas are heated more than bright areas. This phenomenon is known as the albedo effect.  

The map is shown as anomalies, which means that the average of the albedo measured in the period 2000-2009 has been subtracted. In this way it can be seen where the ice is brighter and darker than normal.