Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016)
Glaciers outside of the ice sheets are known to be important contributors to sea level rise. In this work, we provide an overview of changes in the mass of the world's glaciers, excluding those in Greenland and Antarctica, between 2002 and 2016, based on satellite gravimetry observations of the...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:aeae103f61a342c9b83b46e8749eef55 2023-05-15T13:52:40+02:00 Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) Bert Wouters Alex S. Gardner Geir Moholdt 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00096 https://doaj.org/article/aeae103f61a342c9b83b46e8749eef55 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2019.00096/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2019.00096 https://doaj.org/article/aeae103f61a342c9b83b46e8749eef55 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 7 (2019) GRACE glaciers ice caps sea level mass balance Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00096 2022-12-31T00:42:29Z Glaciers outside of the ice sheets are known to be important contributors to sea level rise. In this work, we provide an overview of changes in the mass of the world's glaciers, excluding those in Greenland and Antarctica, between 2002 and 2016, based on satellite gravimetry observations of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Glaciers lost mass at a rate of 199 ± 32 Gt yr−1 during this 14-yr period, equivalent to a cumulative sea level contribution of 8 mm. We present annual mass balances for 17 glacier regions, that show a qualitatively good agreement with published estimates from in situ observations. We find that annual mass balance varies considerably from year to year, which can in part be attributed to changes in the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere. These variations, combined with the relatively short observational record, hamper the detection of acceleration of glacier mass loss. Our study highlights the need for continued observations of the Earth's glacierized regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Frontiers in Earth Science 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
GRACE glaciers ice caps sea level mass balance Science Q |
spellingShingle |
GRACE glaciers ice caps sea level mass balance Science Q Bert Wouters Alex S. Gardner Geir Moholdt Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) |
topic_facet |
GRACE glaciers ice caps sea level mass balance Science Q |
description |
Glaciers outside of the ice sheets are known to be important contributors to sea level rise. In this work, we provide an overview of changes in the mass of the world's glaciers, excluding those in Greenland and Antarctica, between 2002 and 2016, based on satellite gravimetry observations of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Glaciers lost mass at a rate of 199 ± 32 Gt yr−1 during this 14-yr period, equivalent to a cumulative sea level contribution of 8 mm. We present annual mass balances for 17 glacier regions, that show a qualitatively good agreement with published estimates from in situ observations. We find that annual mass balance varies considerably from year to year, which can in part be attributed to changes in the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere. These variations, combined with the relatively short observational record, hamper the detection of acceleration of glacier mass loss. Our study highlights the need for continued observations of the Earth's glacierized regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bert Wouters Alex S. Gardner Geir Moholdt |
author_facet |
Bert Wouters Alex S. Gardner Geir Moholdt |
author_sort |
Bert Wouters |
title |
Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) |
title_short |
Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) |
title_full |
Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) |
title_fullStr |
Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Global Glacier Mass Loss During the GRACE Satellite Mission (2002-2016) |
title_sort |
global glacier mass loss during the grace satellite mission (2002-2016) |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00096 https://doaj.org/article/aeae103f61a342c9b83b46e8749eef55 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 7 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2019.00096/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2019.00096 https://doaj.org/article/aeae103f61a342c9b83b46e8749eef55 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00096 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
7 |
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1766257100662505472 |