Spring GRAAL Campaign
GRAAL - Groundwater, Rivers, Active-layer relationship in the Austre Lovenbreen catchment The GRAAL team is performing the usual instrumentation maintenance and measurement before melting season on the glacier Austre Loven and moraines. It consists of retrieving and resuming temperature loggers, meteo station, automated cameras (read more) and flow rates station at la Goule outlet. Ablation stakes measure is carry out for winter mass balance assessment.
This is also a good time for snow drilling to calculate water equivalent (density ratio): comparing with 2012 result, it is half the water equivalent. Deficit in ice contribution will be evaluated this summer and compare with 2011 record.
Active layer monitoring (permafrost thawing) is accomplished by means of several borehole drillings (max. 3.75m): thus a thawing gradient can be measured from the front moraine to the glacier snout: permafrost re-occupying after glacier retreat (polythermal glacier) can be observed.
Geophysical investigations are performed in continuity of previous surveys with GPR (read more) and in correlation of Middre Lovenbreen structure studies (NERC survey).
The team on the field and using Corbel station facilities:
This is also a good time for snow drilling to calculate water equivalent (density ratio): comparing with 2012 result, it is half the water equivalent. Deficit in ice contribution will be evaluated this summer and compare with 2011 record.
Active layer monitoring (permafrost thawing) is accomplished by means of several borehole drillings (max. 3.75m): thus a thawing gradient can be measured from the front moraine to the glacier snout: permafrost re-occupying after glacier retreat (polythermal glacier) can be observed.
Geophysical investigations are performed in continuity of previous surveys with GPR (read more) and in correlation of Middre Lovenbreen structure studies (NERC survey).
The team on the field and using Corbel station facilities:
- Florian Tolle (THEMA, University de Franche-Comté, France), Jean Michel Friedt (FEMTO-ST Besancon, France), Alexander Prokop (BOKU – University Vienna, Austria)
- Christelle Marlin (IDES, University Paris XI, France), Christophe Grenier (LSCE - CEA-CNRS - Gif sur Yvette, France)
La Goule Outlet
Inside La Goule Outlet
Borehole drilling
Borehole Drilling
Snow Drilling
Radar configuration
Radar usage
Temperature Logger
Meteo Station
Differential GPS
Collocated Chinese Measure
Automated Camera
Sampling for isotope proxy
Reindeers at Corbel