Spatial and temporal Antarctic ice sheet mass trends, glacio-isostatic adjustment, and surface processes from a joint inversion of satellite altimeter, gravity, and GPS data

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
• Main Authors: Martin-Espanol, Alba, Zammit-Mangion, Andrew, Clarke, Peter J., Flament, Thomas, Helm, Veit, King, Matt A., Luthcke, Scott B., Petrie, Elizabeth, Remy, Frederique, Schoen, Nana, Wouters, Bert, Bamber, Jonathan L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2016
• Subjects: GE Environmental Sciences; Q Science (General); Amundsen Sea; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; East Antarctica; The Antarctic; West Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/116754/; http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/116754/1/115079.pdf

We present spatiotemporal mass balance trends for the Antarctic Ice Sheet from a statistical inversion of satellite altimetry, gravimetry, and elastic-corrected GPS data for the period 2003–2013. Our method simultaneously determines annual trends in ice dynamics, surface mass balance anomalies, and a time-invariant solution for glacio-isostatic adjustment while remaining largely independent of forward models. We establish that over the period 2003–2013, Antarctica has been losing mass at a rate of −84 ± 22 Gt yr−1, with a sustained negative mean trend of dynamic imbalance of −111 ± 13 Gt yr−1. West Antarctica is the largest contributor with −112 ± 10 Gt yr−1, mainly triggered by high thinning rates of glaciers draining into the Amundsen Sea Embayment. The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a dramatic increase in mass loss in the last decade, with a mean rate of −28 ± 7 Gt yr−1 and significantly higher values for the most recent years following the destabilization of the Southern Antarctic Peninsula around 2010. The total mass loss is partly compensated by a significant mass gain of 56 ± 18 Gt yr−1 in East Antarctica due to a positive trend of surface mass balance anomalies.