Regional acceleration in ice mass loss from Greenland and Antarctica using GRACE time-variable gravity data

• Main Authors: Velicogna, I., Sutterley, T. C., van den Broeke, M. R.
• Other Authors: Sub Dynamics Meteorology, Marine and Atmospheric Research
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: mass balance; time-variable gravity; Greenland; sea level; Antarctica; remote sensing; SEA-LEVEL; RECONCILED ESTIMATE; SHEET; VARIABILITY; GLACIERS; BALANCE; DISCHARGE; FIELD; Amundsen Sea; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; East Antarctica; Queen Maud Land; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Greenland Sea
• Online Access: https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/308354

We use Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) monthly gravity fields to determine the regional acceleration in ice mass loss in Greenland and Antarctica for 2003-2013. We find that the total mass loss is controlled by only a few regions. In Greenland, the southeast and northwest generate 70% of the loss (28058 Gt/yr) mostly from ice dynamics, the southwest accounts for 54% of the total acceleration in loss (25.41.2 Gt/yr(2)) from a decrease in surface mass balance (SMB), followed by the northwest (34%), and we find no significant acceleration in the northeast. In Antarctica, the Amundsen Sea (AS) sector and the Antarctic Peninsula account for 64% and 17%, respectively, of the total loss (18010 Gt/yr) mainly from ice dynamics. The AS sector contributes most of the acceleration in loss (114 Gt/yr(2)), and Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica, is the only sector with a significant mass gain due to a local increase in SMB (63 +/- 5 Gt/yr).