A decadal investigation of supraglacial lakes in West Greenland using a fully automatic detection and tracking algorithm

► Supraglacial lakes are important in studying mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet. ► We develop a highly-accurate algorithm to automatically track lakes in MODIS imagery. ► The lake parameters are examined in the context of in situ observations of annual melt intensity. ► Result 1: Supraglacial lakes drain more frequently and disappear earlier in warmer years. ► Result 2: Supraglacial lakes migrate to higher elevations in warmer years.