Greenland Ice Sheet: Is It Growing or Shrinking?

Douglas, Bruce C.; Cheney, Robert E.; Miller, Laury; Agreen, R. W.; Carter, William E.; Robertson, D. S.

doi:10.1126/science.248.4953.288

Cited by 48 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Zlvally (4) suggested a n increase in precipitation rates caused by a warmer polar climate as a nossible cause of the volume gronth. However, concerns have been raised about the effect of orbit errors, retracking errors, and systematic biases o n these results (5)(6)(7)(8). W e reexamined elevation change of the Greenland ice sheet, usine Seasat and Geosat altimeter data " through 1988 after incorporating recent technical advancements in ice-sheet retracking, orbit computation, and orbit error reduction.…”

Section: Elevation Change Of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation Change of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet

Davis

Kluever

Haines

1998

Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seasat and Geosat satellite altimeter measurements for the Greenland ice sheet (south of 72 degreesN latitude) show that surface elevations above 2000 meters increased at an average rate of only 1. 5 +/- 0.5 centimeters per year from 1978 to 1988. In contrast, elevation changes varied regionally from -15 to +18 centimeters per year, seasonally by +/-15 centimeters, and interannually by +/-8 centimeters. The average growth rate is too small to determine if the Greenland ice sheet is undergoing a long-term change due to a warmer polar climate.

show abstract

Section: Elevation Change Of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation Change of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet

Davis

Kluever

Haines

1998

Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Water mass transport among oceans, land and atmosphere introduce non-steric sea level change as total water mass is conserved within the Earth system. Contributing processes include changes in glacial and polar ice sheet mass, terrestrial water storage changes (in soil moisture, snow, and ground water), and atmospheric water vapor variations (Douglas et al 1990;Schmitt 1995;Chen et al 1998;Minster et al 1999). Direct processes resulting in nonsteric sea level change include river discharge (runoff) from land, snow and ice melting from glacial and snow/ice sheet, and precipitation and evaporation over the oceans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal global mean sea level change from satellite altimeter, GRACE, and geophysical models

Chen¹,

Wilson

Tapley³

et al. 2005

J Geodesy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We estimate seasonal global mean sea level changes using different data resources, including sea level anomalies from satellite radar altimetry, ocean temperature and salinity from the World Ocean Atlas 2001, time-variable gravity observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, and terrestrial water storage and atmospheric water vapor changes from the NASA global land data assimilation system and National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis atmospheric model. The results from all estimates are consistent in amplitude and phase at the annual period, in some cases with remarkably good agreement. The results provide a good measure of average annual variation of water stored within atmospheric, land, and ocean reservoirs. We examine how varied treatments of degree-2 and degree-1 spherical harmonics from GRACE, laser ranging, and Earth rotation variations affect GRACE mean sea level change estimates. We also show that correcting the standard equilibrium ocean pole tide correction for mass conser- vation is needed when using satellite altimeter data in global mean sea level studies. These encouraging results indicate that is reasonable to consider estimating longer-term time series of water storage in these reservoirs, as a way of tracking climate change.

show abstract

“…Although this study has been the source of much debate (e.g., Douglas et al, 1990;Schneider, 1992;van der Veen, 1993;Davis, 1995), it is important to point out that these initial results were published when altimetric studies of icesheet elevation change were in their infancy. Substantial progress has been made in recent years on important technical issues through the efforts of many investigators crossing several disciplines.…”

Section: Surface Elevation Change For 1978-1988 From Satellite Radar mentioning

confidence: 96%

Greenland ice sheet elevation change since 1978 from radar and laser altimetry¹

et al. 1999

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Repeat satellite radar altimetry gives estimates of surface elevation change for the southern half of the Greenland ice sheet between 1978 and 1988, and repeat aircraft laser altimetry gives equivalent estimates for 1993-1998. Over large areas away from the coast, the two data sets show the ice sheet to be in balance, but with localized zones of significant thickening or thinning. Rates of surface elevation change derived by comparing localized 1980 ground surveys with 1993-1994 laser surveys show excellent agreement with the 1978-1988 radar results, suggesting that the radar altimeter provides reliable estimates of elevation change when data are averaged over areas of ice sheet with low surface slopes. Regions where there are significant differences between the 1978-1988 and 1993-1998 results can be explained either by changes in near-surface snow conditions that affect the radar reflecting horizon, or by temporal variability in snow accumulation rates.

show abstract

Greenland Ice Sheet: Is It Growing or Shrinking?

Cited by 48 publications

References 4 publications

Elevation Change of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet

Elevation Change of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet

Seasonal global mean sea level change from satellite altimeter, GRACE, and geophysical models

Greenland ice sheet elevation change since 1978 from radar and laser altimetry¹

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Greenland Ice Sheet: Is It Growing or Shrinking?

Cited by 48 publications

References 4 publications

Elevation Change of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet

Elevation Change of the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet

Seasonal global mean sea level change from satellite altimeter, GRACE, and geophysical models

Greenland ice sheet elevation change since 1978 from radar and laser altimetry1

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Greenland ice sheet elevation change since 1978 from radar and laser altimetry¹