Annual glacier elevation change rate raster dataset, South American Andes 2000 and 2011-2015

• Main Authors: Braun, Matthias Holger, Malz, Philipp, Sommer, Christian, Farías-Barahona, David, Sauter, Tobias, Casassa, Gino, Soruco, Alvaro, Skvarca, Pedro, Seehaus, Thorsten
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2018
• Subjects: Greenland; Antarc*; Antarctica; glacier; Tierra del Fuego
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.893612; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.893612

Excluding the large ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers in South America are large contributors to sea-level rise. Their rates of mass loss, however, are poorly known. Here, using repeat bi-static synthetic aperture radar interferometry over the years 2000 to 2011/2015, we compute continent-wide, glacier-specific elevation and mass changes for 85% of the glacierized area of South America. Mass loss rate is calculated to be 19.43 ± 0.60 Gt a−1 from elevation changes above ground, sea or lake level, with an additional 3.06 ± 1.24 Gt a−1 from subaqueous ice mass loss not contributing to sea-level rise. The largest contributions come from the Patagonian icefields, where 83% mass loss occurs, largely from dynamic adjustments of large glaciers. These changes contribute 0.054 ± 0.002 mm a−1 to sea-level rise. In comparison with previous studies, tropical and out-tropical glaciers — as well as those in Tierra del Fuego — show considerably less ice loss. These results provide basic information to calibrate and validate glacier-climate models and also for decision-makers in water resource management.