AUTHOR=Carlson Daniel F. , Boone Wieter , Meire Lorenz , Abermann Jakob , Rysgaard Søren TITLE=Bergy Bit and Melt Water Trajectories in Godthåbsfjord (SW Greenland) Observed by the Expendable Ice Tracker JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science VOLUME=4 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00276 DOI=10.3389/fmars.2017.00276 ISSN=2296-7745 ABSTRACT=

Icebergs and bergy bits makes up a significant component of the total freshwater flux from the Greenland Ice Sheet to the ocean. Observations of iceberg trajectories are biased toward larger icebergs and, as a result, the drift characteristics of smaller icebergs and bergy bits are poorly understood. In an attempt to fill this critical knowledge gap, we developed the open-source EXpendable Ice TrackEr (EXITE). EXITE is a low-cost, satellite-tracked GPS beacon capable of high-resolution temporal measurements over extended deployment periods (30 days or more). Furthermore, EXITE can transform to a surface drifter when its host iceberg capsizes or fragments. Here we describe basic construction of an EXITE beacon and present results from a deployment in Godthåbsfjord (SW Greenland) in August 2016. Overall, EXITE trajectories show out-fjord surface transport, in agreement with a simple estuarine circulation paradigm. However, eddies and abrupt wind-driven reversals reveal complex surface transport pathways at time scales of hours to days.