Hydrology and ice flow at high elevations of the Greenland Ice Sheet

The coupled hydrology and ice dynamics of the higher elevations of the Greenland Ice Sheet, where ice is beyond a kilometre thick, remains poorly understood. This lack of knowledge is a significant source of uncertainty in the models used to project the ice sheet’s sea level rise contribution, both in terms of surface mass balance and the potential for dynamic drawdown. I will discuss some of our recent and ongoing work towards (1) improving the accuracy of partitioning between refreezing and runoff processes, and (2) capturing the impact of surface meltwater on ice sliding where the ice sheet is more than a kilometre thick.