DeepBedMap: a deep neural network for resolving the bed topography of Antarctica

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: W. J. Leong, H. J. Horgan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2020
• Subjects: geo; envir; Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3687-2020; https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/3687/2020/tc-14-3687-2020.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/3c64fbbe2f9a4386942da242a12c5b37

To resolve the bed elevation of Antarctica, we present DeepBedMap – a novel machine learning method that can produce Antarctic bed topography with adequate surface roughness from multiple remote sensing data inputs. The super-resolution deep convolutional neural network model is trained on scattered regions in Antarctica where high-resolution (250 m) ground-truth bed elevation grids are available. This model is then used to generate high-resolution bed topography in less surveyed areas. DeepBedMap improves on previous interpolation methods by not restricting itself to a low-spatial-resolution (1000 m) BEDMAP2 raster image as its prior image. It takes in additional high-spatial-resolution datasets, such as ice surface elevation, velocity and snow accumulation, to better inform the bed topography even in the absence of ice thickness data from direct ice-penetrating-radar surveys. The DeepBedMap model is based on an adapted architecture of the Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Network, chosen to minimize per-pixel elevation errors while producing realistic topography. The final product is a four-times-upsampled (250 m) bed elevation model of Antarctica that can be used by glaciologists interested in the subglacial terrain and by ice sheet modellers wanting to run catchment- or continent-scale ice sheet model simulations. We show that DeepBedMap offers a rougher topographic profile compared to the standard bicubically interpolated BEDMAP2 and BedMachine Antarctica and envision it being used where a high-resolution bed elevation model is required.