Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry
Acquiring reliable estimates of the Antarctic Ice Sheet surface mass balance is essential for trustworthy predictions of its evolution and future contribution to sea level rise. Snow height variations, i.e., the net change of the surface elevation resulting from a combination of surface processes su...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:475135d197974b4fbe40d9921defc20d 2023-05-15T13:38:48+02:00 Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry Elisa Pinat Pascale Defraigne Nicolas Bergeot Jean-Marie Chevalier Bruno Bertrand 2021-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13061164 https://doaj.org/article/475135d197974b4fbe40d9921defc20d EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1164 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs13061164 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/475135d197974b4fbe40d9921defc20d Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 1164, p 1164 (2021) GNSS-IR Antarctica snow accumulation Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13061164 2022-12-31T00:45:46Z Acquiring reliable estimates of the Antarctic Ice Sheet surface mass balance is essential for trustworthy predictions of its evolution and future contribution to sea level rise. Snow height variations, i.e., the net change of the surface elevation resulting from a combination of surface processes such as snowfall, ablation, and wind redistribution, can provide a unique tool to constrain the uncertainty on mass budget estimations. In this study, GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) is exploited to assess the long-term variations of snow accumulation and ablation processes. Eight antennas belonging to the Polar Earth Observing Network (POLENET) network are considered, together with the ROB1 antenna, deployed in the east part of Antarctica by the Royal Observatory of Belgium. For ROB1, which is located on an ice rise, we highlight an annual variation of snow accumulation in April–May (~30–50 cm) and ablation during spring/summer period. A snow surface elevation velocity of +0.08 ± 0.01 ma <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></semantics></math> is observed in the 2013–2016 period, statistically rejecting the “no trend” null hypothesis. As the POLENET stations are all located on moving glaciers, their associated downhill motion must be corrected for using an elevation model. This induces an increased uncertainty on the snow surface elevation change determined from GNSS-IR. Among the eight stations analyzed, only three of them show a long-term snow height variation larger than the uncertainties. One is located on the Flask Galcier in the Antarctic Peninsula, with a decrease of more than 4 m between 2012 and 2014, with an uncertainty of 2.5 m. The second one is located on the Lower Thwaites Glacier where we observe, between 2010 and 2020, a snow surface drop of 10 m, with a conservative uncertainty of 1 m. The third station, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) Remote Sensing 13 6 1164 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
GNSS-IR Antarctica snow accumulation Science Q |
spellingShingle |
GNSS-IR Antarctica snow accumulation Science Q Elisa Pinat Pascale Defraigne Nicolas Bergeot Jean-Marie Chevalier Bruno Bertrand Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry |
topic_facet |
GNSS-IR Antarctica snow accumulation Science Q |
description |
Acquiring reliable estimates of the Antarctic Ice Sheet surface mass balance is essential for trustworthy predictions of its evolution and future contribution to sea level rise. Snow height variations, i.e., the net change of the surface elevation resulting from a combination of surface processes such as snowfall, ablation, and wind redistribution, can provide a unique tool to constrain the uncertainty on mass budget estimations. In this study, GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) is exploited to assess the long-term variations of snow accumulation and ablation processes. Eight antennas belonging to the Polar Earth Observing Network (POLENET) network are considered, together with the ROB1 antenna, deployed in the east part of Antarctica by the Royal Observatory of Belgium. For ROB1, which is located on an ice rise, we highlight an annual variation of snow accumulation in April–May (~30–50 cm) and ablation during spring/summer period. A snow surface elevation velocity of +0.08 ± 0.01 ma <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></semantics></math> is observed in the 2013–2016 period, statistically rejecting the “no trend” null hypothesis. As the POLENET stations are all located on moving glaciers, their associated downhill motion must be corrected for using an elevation model. This induces an increased uncertainty on the snow surface elevation change determined from GNSS-IR. Among the eight stations analyzed, only three of them show a long-term snow height variation larger than the uncertainties. One is located on the Flask Galcier in the Antarctic Peninsula, with a decrease of more than 4 m between 2012 and 2014, with an uncertainty of 2.5 m. The second one is located on the Lower Thwaites Glacier where we observe, between 2010 and 2020, a snow surface drop of 10 m, with a conservative uncertainty of 1 m. The third station, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elisa Pinat Pascale Defraigne Nicolas Bergeot Jean-Marie Chevalier Bruno Bertrand |
author_facet |
Elisa Pinat Pascale Defraigne Nicolas Bergeot Jean-Marie Chevalier Bruno Bertrand |
author_sort |
Elisa Pinat |
title |
Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry |
title_short |
Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry |
title_full |
Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry |
title_fullStr |
Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-Term Snow Height Variations in Antarctica from GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry |
title_sort |
long-term snow height variations in antarctica from gnss interferometric reflectometry |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13061164 https://doaj.org/article/475135d197974b4fbe40d9921defc20d |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Thwaites Glacier |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Thwaites Glacier |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 1164, p 1164 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1164 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs13061164 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/475135d197974b4fbe40d9921defc20d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13061164 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1164 |
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1766111206351831040 |