Greenland Magnetometer Array

The project plans use a magnetometer at Summit Station to investigate geomagnetic variations in Central Greenland in support of two projects with complementary scientific aims: (1) Project IceBase is a high altitude geomagnetic survey to be proposed by a consortium around NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to investigate the geothermal heat flux below the Greenland ice cap. The project aims at producing a Greenland-wide map of magnetic crust depth (Curie-depth), indicative for geothermal heat flux. The derived heat flux map is a boundary condition for ice sheet models to improve, among other things, estimates for global sea level rise due to melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Ground magnetometers are critical when correcting the survey data for natural geomagnetic time variations. Data from Summit Station are valuable, due the Central Greenland location and connections to the array described next. (2) The Greenland Magnetometer Array operated by DTU Space is a permanent array of some 15 magnetometer stations located on the Greenland East and West Coasts. The array is ideal for investigating the polar ionospheric current systems and processes related to the coupling of energy and momentum from the solar wind to the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Data are interpreted in combination with satellite observations (e.g. NASA's Themis mission, ESA's Cluster mission), or with conjugate stations from Antarctica. The proposed Summit Station magnetometer experiment will both provide data from the electrically insulating ice cap as well as provide improved geographical coverage. This data will be less affected by induced electric currents in surrounding oceans and underlying bedrock than the coastal stations, thus improving the scientific value of the array data as a whole.