Glaciers. They are climate archives, fresh water reserves and, in a way, the planet’s thermal regulation system. For thousands of years they have stored information in their layers, trapping air bubbles that allow us to reconstruct the history of the atmosphere. But they have also acted as gigantic mirrors: their white surface reflects solar radiation and helps maintain the Earth’s energy balance. And today, that balance is being broken.
In recent decades, glaciers have retreated at an unprecedented rate. Since the end of the 20th century, the planet has lost more than 9 billion tons of glacial ice, and the rate of melting has accelerated especially since 2000. In some regions, such as the Alps, More than 50% of the glacial volume could disappear before the end of the century if current trends continue.
But beyond the global figures, there is one fact that summarizes the magnitude of the change: every year, the glaciers lose enough ice to cover all of Spain with a layer of more than one meter of water. And it is not just a landscape issue. Nearly 2 billion people depend directly or indirectly on water from glaciersespecially in Asia and Latin America. Their disappearance not only raises sea levels, but also alters hydrological cycles, ecosystems and entire economies.
And yet, for a long time, observing these ice giants has been a slow, expensive and limited task. That’s where a new tool comes in that is changing the way we study glaciers: drones. In July 2025, A scientific expedition in Greenland combined satellite images with high-precision drones to analyze the evolution of Arctic glaciers.
The mission was led by French explorer Jean-Louis Étienne, known for having reached the North Pole alone, and took place aboard the scientific sailboat Perseverancehe largest “floating laboratory” in the world, equipped with sensors capable of continuously collecting environmental data. The goal was not just to observe, but to measure.
One of the most important advances of this expedition was the creation of 3D models of glaciers using aerial photogrammetry.Until now, much of the study of glaciersIt depended on satellite images. These offer a global vision, but limited in resolution. That’s what drones are for.
While satellites allow us to see the whole, drones provide detail. Together, they offer a multi-scale vision that allowsunderstand not only how much ice is lost, but how that process occurs: where it fractures, how it flows, when it collapses.Key information to improve climate models and anticipate future scenarios. Using DJI’s Mavic 3 Enterprise drone, Étienne l’s teamomanaged to capture high-resolution images that were then transformed into extremely precise three-dimensional maps.
This allows something that was previously very difficult: analyzing in detail how a glacier changes in a matter of weeks or months. On the Eqip Sermia glacier, for example, about 10 square kilometers of surface were mappedgenerating a digital model capable of revealing small fractures, displacements and changes in the volume of the ice.
At another key point, the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, drones made it possible to model icebergs and study how the glacier front fragments, one of the most important processes in the loss of ice mass. This is the fastest glacier in the world: approximately 17 kilometers per year, while The global average is “barely” 90 meters per year.
In this way, the use of drones is democratizing research. What previously required large infrastructure and million-dollar budgets can today be done with relatively light equipment and specialized operators.This allows you to increase the frequency of observations and respond more quickly to unexpected changes. In an environment like the Arctic, where transformations can be abrupt, this “agility” is essential.
Tomorrow, March 21, Glacier Day is celebrated. A date that not only invites us to look at these landscapes with admiration, but also with urgency if we take into account that they are becoming “ephemeral geology.” It is true that drones, like those used in this analysis, do not stop the melting of ice, but They allow us to observe it with unprecedented precision. And in science, understanding is the first step to acting.