# NASA GROVER Rover Explores Greenland Ice Sheet

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2013/05/nasa-grover-greenland-rover/
- Published: 2013-05-01T17:25:29-04:00
- Author: greenguruguides

**NASA GROVER Greenland rover** testing in 2013 gave scientists a new way to study
snow accumulation across the Greenland ice sheet. The autonomous robot used solar
power and ground-penetrating radar to collect data in one of the harshest environments
on Earth.

## GROVER Was Built for Polar Research

NASA’s newest scientific rover is set for testing May 3 through June 8 in the highest
part of Greenland.

The robot is known as GROVER.  It stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely
Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research. It will roam the frigid landscape.
All at collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the
massive ice sheet.

This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study
how snow accumulates, adding layer upon layer to the ice sheet over time.

Greenland’s surface layer vaulted into the news in summer 2012. All when higher 
than normal temperatures caused surface melting. That’s across about 97 percent 
of the ice sheet.

As written before, [Greenland’s](https://greenlivingguy.com/2006/09/greenlands-ice-melt-accelerating/)
ice sheet is melting faster than previously thought, according to research published
Wednesday by U.S. scientists. The data shows the rate of loss accelerated from 2004
to 2006. Especially with the massive ice. All melting two and one-half times faster
than the previous two-year period.

Analysis of satellite observations show that Greenland lost roughly 164 cubic miles
of ice from April 2004 to April 2006. More over this melting is more than the volume
of water in Lake Erie.

As I read once on Hugg which doesn’t exist says the massive glaciers are deteriorating
twice as fast as they were five years ago.

So Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., expect GROVER
to tell us things. It will also detect the layer of the ice sheet that formed. Especially
in the aftermath of that extreme melt event.

Research with polar rovers costs less than aircraft or satellites, the usual platforms.

Source: NASA

[⌊NASA to examine Ice sheet ⌉⌊NASA to examine Ice sheet ⌉[

Now the [Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/10/greenland-ice-sheet-melting-seven-times-faster-than-in-1990s)
reports Greenland’s ice sheet is melting much faster than previously thought, threatening
hundreds of millions of people with inundation and bringing some of the irreversible
impacts of the climate emergency much closer.

 Ice is being lost from Greenland seven times faster than it was in the 1990s, and
the scale and speed of ice loss is much higher than was predicted in the comprehensive
studies of global climate science by the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/27/ipcc-climate-report-un-secretary-general),
according to data.

 That means sea level rises are also likely to reach 67cm by 2100, about 7cm more
than the IPCC’s main prediction. Such a rate of rise will put 400 million people
at risk of flooding every year**.** **That’s** **consequently** instead of the 360
million predicted by the IPCC, by the end of the century.

## Solar Power Helped GROVER Work in a Remote Environment

NASA designed GROVER to operate without relying on fossil-fuel-powered support vehicles
for every measurement. Its solar panels helped the rover work in a pristine polar
environment while its radar examined layers of snow and ice.

For more Greenland coverage, see our [Greenland ice melt article](https://greenlivingguy.com/2006/09/greenlands-ice-melt-accelerating/).

## Conclusion

GROVER showed how robotics and renewable power could improve climate research. The
rover gave scientists a way to gather more detailed field data while reducing the
logistical burden of working across Greenland’s ice sheet.

Source: [NASA — Meet GROVER: NASA’s Rover in Greenland](https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/earth-matters/2013/05/10/meet-grover-nasas-rover-in-greenland/).

![author avatar](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4841837f2a0756d69aeaa2877e5646549fc845ec2f0ffc2804839152c38ba332?
s=300&d=monsterid&r=g)

 greenguruguides

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman, is recognized as a green living guru and electric
car expert. The Green Living Guy writes about green living, green lighting, the 
green guru guides, green business and electric vehicles.

 [See Full Bio](https://greenlivingguy.com/author/greenguruguides/) [  ](https://greenlivingguy.com/author/greenguruguides/)