A high resolution record of Greenland mass balance
We map recent Greenland Ice Sheet elevation change at high spatial (5-km) and temporal (monthly) resolution using CryoSat-2 altimetry. After correcting for the impact of changing snowpack properties associated with unprecedented surface melting in 2012, we find good agreement (3 cm/yr bias) with air...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2016
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/101031/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/101031/9/McMillan_et_al-2016-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069666 |
Summary: | We map recent Greenland Ice Sheet elevation change at high spatial (5-km) and temporal (monthly) resolution using CryoSat-2 altimetry. After correcting for the impact of changing snowpack properties associated with unprecedented surface melting in 2012, we find good agreement (3 cm/yr bias) with airborne measurements. With the aid of regional climate and firn modelling, we compute high spatial and temporal resolution records of Greenland mass evolution, which correlate (R=0.96) with monthly satellite gravimetry, and reveal glacier dynamic imbalance. During 2011-2014, Greenland mass loss averaged 269±51 Gt/yr. Atmospherically-driven losses were widespread, with surface melt variability driving large fluctuations in the annual mass deficit. Terminus regions of five dynamically-thinning glaciers, which constitute less than 1% of Greenland's area, contributed more than 12% of the net ice loss. This high-resolution record demonstrates that mass deficits extending over small spatial and temporal scales have made a relatively large contribution to recent ice sheet imbalance. |
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