GLIMS Regional Center for Greenland

The objectives of GLIMS (Global Land-Ice Measurement from Space) is to establish a global inventory of land ice, including surface topography, changes in extent, and surface velocity over a 5-year period, by using the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer). ASTER is flown onboard the US earth observation satellite Terra launched in December 1999. GLIMS is expected to provide a substantial contribution to climate and environmental change research by enlightening the question of whether the Earth's glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are currently in balance or are increasing or decreasing in volume. This question is still unanswered in spite of the fact that it is a clue to understanding the present and future global sea level change.
The Regional GLIMS Center for Greenland at EMI will serve as centre for Greenland glacier change analysis, and planning of mission operations and data aquisition. The Center activities are partly funded by the Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland and the Danish Research Councils.