Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 859–862 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Accurate quantification of Antarctic ice-sheet mass balance and its contribution to global sea-level rise remains challenging, because in situ measurements over both space and time are sparse. Satellite remote-sensing data of ice elevations and ice motion show significant ice loss in the range of −31 to −196 Gt yr−1 in West Antarctica in recent years1,2,3,4, whereas East Antarctica seems to remain in balance or slightly gain mass1,2,4, with estimated rates of mass change in the range of −4 to 22 Gt yr−1. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment5 (GRACE) offers the opportunity of quantifying polar ice-sheet mass balance from a different perspective6,7. Here we use an extended record of GRACE data spanning the period April 2002 to January 2009 to quantify the rates of Antarctic ice loss. In agreement with an independent earlier assessment4, we estimate a total loss of 190±77 Gt yr−1, with 132±26 Gt yr−1 coming from West Antarctica. However, in contrast with previous GRACE estimates, our data suggest that East Antarctica is losing mass, mostly in coastal regions, at a rate of −57±52 Gt yr−1, apparently caused by increased ice loss since the year 2006.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Antarctic rate map from GRACE.
Figure 2: Forward-modelling scheme.
Figure 3: GRACE mass time series at four selected locations.
Figure 4: Antarctic rate map from forward modelling.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Zwally, J. et al. Mass changes of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and shelves and contributions to sea-level rise: 1992–2002. J. Glaciol. 51, 509–527 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Rignot, E. & Thomas, R. Mass balance of polar ice sheets. Science 297, 1502–1506 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Thomas, R. et al. Accelerated sea-level rise from West Antarctica. Science 306, 255–258 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Rignot, E. et al. Recent Antarctic ice mass loss from radar interferometry and regional climate modelling. Nature Geosci. 1, 106–110 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Tapley, B. D., Bettadpur, S., Watkins, M. M. & Reigber, C. The gravity recovery and climate experiment; Mission overview and early results. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L09607 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Velicogna, I. & Wahr, J. Measurements of time-variable gravity show mass loss in Antarctica. Science 311, 1754–1756 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Luthcke, S. B. et al. Recent Greenland ice mass loss by drainage system from satellite gravity observations. Science 314, 1286–1289 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Shepherd, A. & Wingham, D. Recent sea-level contributions of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Science 315, 1529–1532 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Davis, C. H., Li, Y., McConnell, J. R., Frey, M. M. & Hanna, E. Snowfall-driven growth in East Antarctic ice sheet mitigates recent sea-level rise. Science 308, 1898–1901 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Chen, J. L., Wilson, C. R. & Tapley, B. D. Satellite gravity measurements confirm accelerated melting of Greenland ice sheet. Science 313, 1958–1960 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ramillien, G. et al. Interannual variations of the mass balance of the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets from GRACE. Glob. Planet. Change 53, 198–208 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Horwath, M. & Dietrich, R. Signal and error in mass change inferences from GRACE: The case of Antarctica. Geophys. J. Int. 177, 849–864 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Wahr, J., Swenson, S., Zlotnicki, V. & Velicogna, I. Time-variable gravity from GRACE: First results. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L11501 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Chen, J. L., Wilson, C. R., Tapley, B. D., Blankenship, D. D. & Young, D. Antarctic regional ice loss rates from GRACE. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 266, 140–148 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Arendt, A. A. et al. Validation of high-resolution GRACE mascon estimates of glacier mass changes in the St Elias Mountains, Alaska, USA, using aircraft laser altimetry. J. Glaciol. 54, 778–787 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Chen, J. L., Wilson, C. R., Tapley, B. D., Blankenship, D. D. & Ivins, E. R. Patagonia icefield melting observed by gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE). Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L22501 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Luthcke, S. B. et al. Proc. 2008 GRACE Science Team Meeting, 617–631 (GRACE Project, 2008).

  18. Bettadpur, S. Level-2 Gravity Field Product User Handbook, GRACE 327–734 (GRACE Project, 2007).

  19. Ray, R. D., Rowlands, D. D. & Egbert, G. D. Tidal models in a new era of satellite gravimetry. Space Sci. Rev. 108, 271–282 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ivins, E. & James, T. S. Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment: A new assessment. Antarctic Sci. 17, 541–553 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Chen, J. L., Wilson, C. R., Blankenship, D. D. & Tapley, B. D. Antarctic mass change rates from GRACE. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L11502 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Tregoning, P., Ramillien, G., McQueen, H. & Zwartz, D. Glacial isostatic adjustment and nonstationary signals observed by GRACE. J. Geophys. Res. 114, B06406 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Barletta, V. R., Sabadini, R. & Bordoni, A. Isolating the PGR signal in the GRACE data: Impact on mass balance estimates in Antarctica and Greenland. Geophys. J. Int. 172, 18–30 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Paulson, A., Zhong, S. & Wahr, J. Limitations on the inversion for mantle viscosity from postglacial rebound. Geophys. J. Int. 168, 1195–1209 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Peltier, W. R. Global glacial isostasy and the surface of the ice-age Earth: The ICE-5G (VM2) Model and GRACE, Invited Paper. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 32, 111–149 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Peltier, W. R. Closure of the budget of global sea level rise over the GRACE era: The importance and magnitudes of the required corrections for global isostatic adjustment. Quart. Sci. Rev. 28, 1658–1674 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Chen, J. L., Wilson, C. R. & Seo, K.-W. S2 tide aliasing in GRACE time-variable gravity solutions. J. Geodesy 83, 679–687 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Swenson, S. & Wahr, J. Post-processing removal of correlated errors in GRACE data. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L8402 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NASA GRACE Science Program (NNX08AJ84G), NASA PECASE award (NNG04G060G) and NSF International Polar Year Program (ANT-0632195).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78759, USA

    J. L. Chen, C. R. Wilson & B. D. Tapley

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

    C. R. Wilson

  3. Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

    D. Blankenship

Authors
  1. J. L. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. R. Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. Blankenship
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. B. D. Tapley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

J.L.C. planned analyses, acquired and prepared data, implemented forward modelling and wrote the paper. C.R.W., D.B. and B.D.T. analysed the data and results.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. L. Chen.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 916 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, J., Wilson, C., Blankenship, D. et al. Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements. Nature Geosci 2, 859–862 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo694

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo694

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing