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Surface mass balance contributions to acceleration of Antarctic ice mass loss during 2003–2013
Author(s) -
Seo KiWeon,
Wilson Clark R.,
Scambos Ted,
Kim BaekMin,
Waliser Duane E.,
Tian Baijun,
Kim ByeongHoon,
Eom Jooyoung
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1002/2014jb011755
Subject(s) - acceleration , glacier mass balance , snow , precipitation , climatology , atmospheric sciences , ice sheet , environmental science , geology , meteorology , glacier , oceanography , physics , geomorphology , classical mechanics
Recent observations from satellite gravimetry (the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission) suggest an acceleration of ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS). The contribution of surface mass balance changes (due to variable precipitation) is compared with GRACE‐derived mass loss acceleration by assessing the estimated contribution of snow mass from meteorological reanalysis data. We find that over much of the continent, the acceleration can be explained by precipitation anomalies. However, on the Antarctic Peninsula and other parts of West Antarctica, mass changes are not explained by precipitation and are likely associated with ice discharge rate increases. The total apparent GRACE acceleration over all of the AIS between 2003 and 2013 is −13.6 ± 7.2 Gt/yr 2 . Of this total, we find that the surface mass balance component is −8.2 ± 2.0 Gt/yr 2 . However, the GRACE estimate appears to contain errors arising from the atmospheric pressure fields used to remove air mass effects. The estimated acceleration error from this effect is about 9.8 ± 5.8 Gt/yr 2 . Correcting for this yields an ice discharge acceleration of −15.1 ± 6.5 Gt/yr 2 .