Elevation Models of Antarctica and Greenland derived from CryoSat-2 in the period 2011 to 2013 ...

This study focuses on the present-day surface elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Based on 3 years of CryoSat-2 data acquisition we derived new elevation models (DEMs) as well as elevation change maps and volume change estimates for both ice sheets. Here we present the new DEMs and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Helm, Veit, Humbert, Angelika, Miller, Heinz
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.831394
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831394
Description
Summary:This study focuses on the present-day surface elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Based on 3 years of CryoSat-2 data acquisition we derived new elevation models (DEMs) as well as elevation change maps and volume change estimates for both ice sheets. Here we present the new DEMs and their corresponding error maps. The accuracy of the derived DEMs for Greenland and Antarctica is similar to those of previous DEMs obtained by satellite-based laser and radar altimeters. Comparisons with ICESat data show that 80% of the CryoSat-2 DEMs have an uncertainty of less than 3 m ± 15 m. The surface elevation change rates between January 2011 and January 2014 are presented for both ice sheets. We compared our results to elevation change rates obtained from ICESat data covering the time period from 2003 to 2009. The comparison reveals that in West Antarctica the volume loss has increased by a factor of 3. It also shows an anomalous thickening in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica which represents a known ... : Supplement to: Helm, Veit; Humbert, Angelika; Miller, Heinz (2014): Elevation and elevation change of Greenland and Antarctica derived from CryoSat-2. The Cryosphere, 8(4), 1539-1559 ...