Mapping Ice-Sheet Margins from Radar Altimetry Data

Antarctic Ice Sheet and Radar Altimetry: A Review

Altimetry is probably one of the most powerful tools for ice sheet observation. Our vision of the Antarctic ice sheet has been deeply transformed since the launch of the ERS1 satellite in 1991. With the launch of ERS2 and Envisat, the series of altimetric observations now provides 19 years of continuous and homogeneous observations that allow monitoring of the shape and volume of ice sheets. Th...

Ice Measurements by Geosat Radar Altimetry

The surface topography of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is the principal ice parameter obtainable from satellite radar altimetry. The improved ability of the GEOSA T altimeter to follow irregular surfaces and its extended operation have greatly increased the available topographic data on ice sheets for the study of ice dynamics and the possible detection of changes in global ice volume.

An ice-sheet-wide framework for englacial attenuation from ice-penetrating radar data

Radar inference of the bulk properties of glacier beds, most notably identifying basal melting, is, in general, derived from the basal reflection coefficient. On the scale of an ice sheet, unambiguous determination of basal reflection is primarily limited by uncertainty in the englacial attenuation of the radio wave, which is an Arrhenius function of temperature. Existing bed-returned power alg...

Laser altimetry reveals complex pattern of Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics.

We present a new record of ice thickness change, reconstructed at nearly 100,000 sites on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) from laser altimetry measurements spanning the period 1993-2012, partitioned into changes due to surface mass balance (SMB) and ice dynamics. We estimate a mean annual GrIS mass loss of 243 ± 18 Gt ⋅ y(-1), equivalent to 0.68 mm ⋅ y(-1) sea level rise (SLR) for 2003-2009. Dyn...

Global Ice Sheet Mapping Observatory