On day 2, a soggy team went back down onto the ice to survey some smaller plots. These surveys will be used to observe the changes in different ice surfaces over the duration of the field campaign, potentially the longest study of its kind to date. The microtopographic survey techniques used here take advantage of the relatively fast, fine resolution capabilities of SfM, and the results will be used to investigate the evolution of z0 during the peak of the ablation season.
Initial tests suggest we are achieving the high resolution data we require for subsequent analyses – thanks also to the dGPS located right outside our doorstep!
Several days of measurement have already revealed that the Hintereis glacier is already showing signs of dramatic surface changes!