Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance
Mass change over Greenland can be caused by either changes in the glacial dynamic mass balance (DMB) or the surface mass balance (SMB). The GRACE satellite gravity mission cannot directly separate the two physical causes because it measures the sum of the entire mass column with limited spatial reso...
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Copernicus Publications
2015
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:6847a26a68ba4674b5920aa45f971769 2023-05-15T16:29:11+02:00 Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance J. A. Bonin D. P. Chambers 2015-09-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1761-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1761/2015/tc-9-1761-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6847a26a68ba4674b5920aa45f971769 en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-9-1761-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1761/2015/tc-9-1761-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6847a26a68ba4674b5920aa45f971769 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 9, Iss 5, Pp 1761-1772 (2015) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2015 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1761-2015 2023-01-22T18:03:51Z Mass change over Greenland can be caused by either changes in the glacial dynamic mass balance (DMB) or the surface mass balance (SMB). The GRACE satellite gravity mission cannot directly separate the two physical causes because it measures the sum of the entire mass column with limited spatial resolution. We demonstrate one theoretical way to indirectly separate cumulative SMB from DMB with GRACE, using a least squares inversion technique with knowledge of the location of the glaciers. However, we find that the limited 60 × 60 spherical harmonic representation of current GRACE data does not provide sufficient resolution to adequately accomplish the task. We determine that at a maximum degree/order of 90 × 90 or above, a noise-free gravity measurement could theoretically separate the SMB from DMB signals. However, current GRACE satellite errors are too large at present to separate the signals. A noise reduction of a factor of 10 at a resolution of 90 × 90 would provide the accuracy needed for the interannual cumulative SMB and DMB to be accurately separated. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland The Cryosphere Unknown Greenland The Cryosphere 9 5 1761 1772 |
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English |
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geo envir |
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geo envir J. A. Bonin D. P. Chambers Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
Mass change over Greenland can be caused by either changes in the glacial dynamic mass balance (DMB) or the surface mass balance (SMB). The GRACE satellite gravity mission cannot directly separate the two physical causes because it measures the sum of the entire mass column with limited spatial resolution. We demonstrate one theoretical way to indirectly separate cumulative SMB from DMB with GRACE, using a least squares inversion technique with knowledge of the location of the glaciers. However, we find that the limited 60 × 60 spherical harmonic representation of current GRACE data does not provide sufficient resolution to adequately accomplish the task. We determine that at a maximum degree/order of 90 × 90 or above, a noise-free gravity measurement could theoretically separate the SMB from DMB signals. However, current GRACE satellite errors are too large at present to separate the signals. A noise reduction of a factor of 10 at a resolution of 90 × 90 would provide the accuracy needed for the interannual cumulative SMB and DMB to be accurately separated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. A. Bonin D. P. Chambers |
author_facet |
J. A. Bonin D. P. Chambers |
author_sort |
J. A. Bonin |
title |
Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
title_short |
Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
title_full |
Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying the resolution level where the GRACE satellites can separate Greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
title_sort |
quantifying the resolution level where the grace satellites can separate greenland's glacial mass balance from surface mass balance |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1761-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1761/2015/tc-9-1761-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6847a26a68ba4674b5920aa45f971769 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Greenland The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 9, Iss 5, Pp 1761-1772 (2015) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-9-1761-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1761/2015/tc-9-1761-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6847a26a68ba4674b5920aa45f971769 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1761-2015 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1761 |
op_container_end_page |
1772 |
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1766018874532167680 |