Due to global warming, many glaciers are retreating and thinning due to increased melting (this is known as glacial ablation). The two main ice sheets on Earth, those of Greenland and Antarctica, are so large that in practice it is almost impossible to reliably determine mass balance using conventional methods.

A tracker with a pull-wire sensor measures ice loss at Semilik Glacier in Greenland. The cable sensor (or rope can) is suitable for distance and position measurement. The pull wire sensor can measure distances from 50mm to 5000mm and has very high linearity over the entire measurement range. The pull wire sensor used in this test is the SP series, which is a robust pull wire sensor that can withstand temperatures of -40 ° C.