Surface elevation change and mass balance of Icelandic ice caps derived from swath mode CryoSat-2 altimetry

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Foresta, L., Gourmelen, N., Pálsson, F., Nienow, P., Björnsson, H., Shepherd, A.
• Other Authors: Institut de physique du globe de Strasbourg (IPGS), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: mass balance; ice caps; iceland; radar altimetry; swath processing; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Vatnajökull; Ice cap; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03707559; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03707559/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03707559/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202016%20-%20Foresta%20-%20Surface%20elevation%20change%20and%20mass%20balance%20of%20Icelandic%20ice%20caps%20derived.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071485

International audience We apply swath processing to CryoSat-2 interferometric mode data acquired over the Icelandic ice caps to generate maps of rates of surface elevation change at 0.5 km postings. This high-resolution mapping reveals complex surface elevation changes in the region, related to climate, ice dynamics, and subglacial geothermal and magmatic processes. We estimate rates of volume and mass change independently for the six major Icelandic ice caps, 90% of Iceland's permanent ice cover, for five glaciological years between October 2010 and September 2015. Annual mass balance is highly variable; during the 2014/2015 glaciological year, the Vatnajökull ice cap ( 70% of the glaciated area) experienced positive mass balance for the first time since 1992/1993. Our results indicate that between glaciological years 2010/2011and 2014/2015 Icelandic ice caps have lost 5.8 ± 0.7 Gt a -1 on average, 40% less than the preceding 15 years, contributing 0.016 ± 0.002 mm a -1 to sea level rise.