摘要：Recent decreases in Arctic sea ice and increases in Greenland ice sheet surface-melt may
have global impacts, but the interactions between these two processes are unknown. Using
microwave satellite data, we explore the spatial and temporal covariance of sea ice extent
and ice sheet surface-melt around Greenland from 1979 to 2007. Significant covariance is
discovered in several loci in the late summer, with the strongest covariance in western
Greenland, particularly in the southwest (Kangerlussuaq). In this region, wind direction
patterns and a statistical lag analysis of ice retreat/advance and surface-melt event timings
suggest that sea ice extent change is a potential driver of ice sheet melt. Here, late summer
wind directions facilitate onshore advection of ocean heat, and enhanced melting on the ice
sheet commonly occurs after reductions in offshore sea ice. Hence, this study
identifies for the first time the covariability patterns of sea ice and ice sheet melt and
suggests that a retreating sea ice margin may enhance melting over the ice sheet.
