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Greenland Ice Sheet Elevation Change: Direct Observation of Process and Attribution at Summit
Author(s) -
Hawley Robert L.,
Neumann Thomas A.,
Stevens C. Max,
Brunt Kelly M.,
Sutterley Tyler C.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl088864
Subject(s) - elevation (ballistics) , greenland ice sheet , firn , geology , ice sheet , future sea level , climatology , ice core , global change , climate change , physical geography , ice stream , cryosphere , geomorphology , oceanography , glacier , sea ice , geography , geometry , mathematics
Greenland Ice Sheet surface elevation is changing as mass loss accelerates. In understanding elevation change, the magnitudes of physical processes involved are important for interpretation of altimetry and assessing changes in these processes. The four key processes are surface mass balance (SMB), firn densification, ice dynamics, and isostatic adjustment. We quantified these processes at Summit, Greenland, where monthly Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) snowmobile traverses measured elevation change from 2008 to 2018. We find an elevation increase of 0.019 m a −1 . The sum of the effects of the four processes reproduces the measured elevation time series, in linear trend and in intra‐annual variability. The short‐term variability in elevation is primarily explained by the variability in SMB. Since SMB has not changed significantly over the last century, and the other processes change over longer time scales, the elevation change likely has been ongoing for at least the last 100 years.