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
We present spatiotemporal mass balance trends for the Antarctic Ice Sheet from astatistical inversion of satellite altimetry, gravimetry, and elastic-corrected GPS data for the period 20032013. Our method simultaneously determines annual trends in ice dynamics, surface mass balanceanomalies, and a t...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc
2016
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003550 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/106994 |
Summary: | We present spatiotemporal mass balance trends for the Antarctic Ice Sheet from astatistical inversion of satellite altimetry, gravimetry, and elastic-corrected GPS data for the period 20032013. Our method simultaneously determines annual trends in ice dynamics, surface mass balanceanomalies, and a time-invariant solution for glacio-isostatic adjustment while remaining largely independent of forward models. We establish that over the period 20032013, Antarctica has been losing mass at a rate of −84 22Gtyr −1 , with a sustained negative mean trend of dynamic imbalance of −111 13Gtyr −1 . West Antarctica is the largest contributor with −112 10Gtyr −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 7Gtyr −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 18Gtyr −1 in East Antarctica due to a positive trend of surface mass balance anomalies. |
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