Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics

We present the first detailed reconstruction of surface elevation changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet from NASA’s laser altimetry data. Time series at nearly 100,000 locations allow the characterization of ice sheet changes at scales ranging from individual outlet glaciers to larger drainage basins a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: Csatho, Beata M., Schenk, Anton F., van der Veen, Cornelis J., Babonis, Gregory, Duncan, Kyle, Rezvanbehbahani, Soroush, van den Broeke, Michiel R., Simonsen, Sebastian B., Nagarajan, Sudhagar, van Angelen, Jan H.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2014
Subjects:
Physical Sciences
Greenland
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4284527
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25512537
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411680112
Description
Summary:We present the first detailed reconstruction of surface elevation changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet from NASA’s laser altimetry data. Time series at nearly 100,000 locations allow the characterization of ice sheet changes at scales ranging from individual outlet glaciers to larger drainage basins and the entire ice sheet. Our record shows that continuing dynamic thinning provides a substantial contribution to Greenland mass loss. The large spatial and temporal variations of dynamic mass loss and widespread intermittent thinning indicate the complexity of ice sheet response to climate forcing, strongly enforcing the need for continued monitoring at high spatial resolution and for improving numerical ice sheet models.

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