Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data
Time-variable gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission have been available since 2002 to estimate the mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. We analyze current progress and uncertainties in GRACE estimates of ice sheet mass balance. We discuss th...
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Language: | English |
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ftcdlib:qt3t4434fr 2023-05-15T13:32:40+02:00 Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data Velicogna, I. Wahr, J. 3055 - 3063 2013-06-28 application/pdf http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3t4434fr english eng eScholarship, University of California qt3t4434fr http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3t4434fr Attribution (CC BY): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Velicogna, I.; & Wahr, J.(2013). Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(12), 3055 - 3063. doi:10.1002/grl.50527. UC Irvine: Department of Earth System Science, UCI. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3t4434fr Physical Sciences and Mathematics ice mass balance sea level time variable gravity last glacial maximum Greenland model gravimetry surface system field article 2013 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50527 2016-04-02T19:07:02Z Time-variable gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission have been available since 2002 to estimate the mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. We analyze current progress and uncertainties in GRACE estimates of ice sheet mass balance. We discuss the impacts of errors associated with spherical harmonic truncation, spatial averaging, temporal sampling, and leakage from other time-dependent signals (e.g., glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA)). The largest sources of error for Antarctica are the GIA correction, the omission of l=1 terms, nontidal changes in ocean mass, and measurement errors. For Greenland, the errors come mostly from the uncertainty in the scaling factor. Using Release 5.0 (RL05) GRACE fields for January 2003 through November 2012, we find a mass change of −258 ± 41 Gt/yr for Greenland, with an acceleration of −31 ± 6 Gt/yr2, and a loss that migrated clockwise around the ice sheet margin to progressively affect the entire periphery. For Antarctica, we report changes of −83 ± 49 and −147 ± 80 Gt/yr for two GIA models, with an acceleration of −12 ± 9 Gt/yr2 and a dominance from the southeast pacific sector of West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Greenland Ice Sheet West Antarctica University of California: eScholarship Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Greenland Pacific The Antarctic West Antarctica Geophysical Research Letters 40 12 3055 3063 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics ice mass balance sea level time variable gravity last glacial maximum Greenland model gravimetry surface system field |
spellingShingle |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics ice mass balance sea level time variable gravity last glacial maximum Greenland model gravimetry surface system field Velicogna, I. Wahr, J. Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data |
topic_facet |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics ice mass balance sea level time variable gravity last glacial maximum Greenland model gravimetry surface system field |
description |
Time-variable gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission have been available since 2002 to estimate the mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. We analyze current progress and uncertainties in GRACE estimates of ice sheet mass balance. We discuss the impacts of errors associated with spherical harmonic truncation, spatial averaging, temporal sampling, and leakage from other time-dependent signals (e.g., glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA)). The largest sources of error for Antarctica are the GIA correction, the omission of l=1 terms, nontidal changes in ocean mass, and measurement errors. For Greenland, the errors come mostly from the uncertainty in the scaling factor. Using Release 5.0 (RL05) GRACE fields for January 2003 through November 2012, we find a mass change of −258 ± 41 Gt/yr for Greenland, with an acceleration of −31 ± 6 Gt/yr2, and a loss that migrated clockwise around the ice sheet margin to progressively affect the entire periphery. For Antarctica, we report changes of −83 ± 49 and −147 ± 80 Gt/yr for two GIA models, with an acceleration of −12 ± 9 Gt/yr2 and a dominance from the southeast pacific sector of West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Velicogna, I. Wahr, J. |
author_facet |
Velicogna, I. Wahr, J. |
author_sort |
Velicogna, I. |
title |
Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data |
title_short |
Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data |
title_full |
Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data |
title_fullStr |
Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data |
title_sort |
time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: precision and limitations of the grace satellite data |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3t4434fr |
op_coverage |
3055 - 3063 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Greenland Pacific The Antarctic West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Greenland Pacific The Antarctic West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Greenland Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Greenland Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
op_source |
Velicogna, I.; & Wahr, J.(2013). Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: Precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(12), 3055 - 3063. doi:10.1002/grl.50527. UC Irvine: Department of Earth System Science, UCI. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3t4434fr |
op_relation |
qt3t4434fr http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3t4434fr |
op_rights |
Attribution (CC BY): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50527 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
3055 |
op_container_end_page |
3063 |
_version_ |
1766028975860088832 |