Premium
Antarctic outlet glacier mass change resolved at basin scale from satellite gravity gradiometry
Author(s) -
Bouman J.,
Fuchs M.,
Ivins E.,
Wal W.,
Schrama E.,
Visser P.,
Horwath M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl060637
Subject(s) - geology , glacier , gravitational field , satellite , gravimetry , geodesy , ice sheet , oceanography , geomorphology , physics , astronomy , geotechnical engineering , aerospace engineering , engineering , reservoir modeling
The orbit and instrumental measurement of the Gravity Field and Steady State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite mission offer the highest ever resolution capabilities for mapping Earth's gravity field from space. However, past analysis predicted that GOCE would not detect changes in ice sheet mass. Here we demonstrate that GOCE gravity gradiometry observations can be combined with Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity data to estimate mass changes in the Amundsen Sea Sector. This refined resolution allows land ice changes within the Pine Island Glacier (PIG), Thwaites Glacier, and Getz Ice Shelf drainage systems to be measured at respectively −67 ± 7, −63 ± 12, and −55 ± 9 Gt/yr over the GOCE observing period of November 2009 to June 2012. This is the most accurate pure satellite gravimetry measurement to date of current mass loss from PIG, known as the “weak underbelly” of West Antarctica because of its retrograde bed slope and high potential for raising future sea level.