Applications of Satellite Altimetry to Study the Antarctic Ice Sheet

• Main Authors: Rémy, F., Memin, A., Velicogna, I
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales (LEGOS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géoazur (GEOAZUR 7329), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02135776

International audience This chapter discusses a few general properties of Antarctica ice sheet and shows why ice sheet topography is one of the most pertinent parameters for studying the dynamics of the ice sheet. It describes specific aspects of the altimetry technique applied for studying land ice and discusses specifics of measurements of polar ice sheets by radar altimeters. The chapter addresses various areas to which radar and laser altimetry have made notable contributions: surface climatology, ice dynamics, and monitoring of ice volume variations. It summarizes average characteristics of the ice sheet, assuming in first approximation that it is in a state of mass balance. Surface topography is one of the most pertinent parameters for monitoring an ice sheet but also for constraining ice flow models. When using altimetric series, the error due to the poor temporal repetition of the satellite ground track and the presence of surface slope must be corrected.