A high-resolution record of Greenland mass balance

peer reviewed 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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: McMillan, Malcolm, Leeson, Amber, Shepherd, Andrew, Briggs, Kate, Armitage, Thomas W. K., Hogg, Anna, Kuipers Munneke, Peter, van den Broeke, Michiel, Noël, Brice, van de Berg, Willem Jan, Ligtenberg, Stefan, Horwath, Martin, Groh, Andreas, Muir, Alan, Gilbert, Lin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2016
Subjects:
altimetry
CryoSat-2
GRACE
Greenland Ice Sheet
mass balance
Cryosat
Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences (all)
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Physical
chemical
mathematical & earth Sciences
Earth sciences & physical geography
Physique
chimie
mathématiques & sciences de la terre
Sciences de la terre & géographie physique
glacier
Greenland
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/301895
https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/301895/1/McMillan_GRL_2016.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069666
Description
Summary:peer reviewed 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 modeling, 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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