Spread of Svalbard Glacier Mass Loss to Barents Sea Margins Revealed by CryoSat‐2

Abstract

The Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is located in the most rapidly warming area of the Arctic, at the interface of Arctic and Atlantic air and ocean masses. The presence of a large number of surge‐type glaciers and the potential for rapid changes in surface mass balance and ice dynamics necessitates regularly updated mass balance assessment. This study uses swath processing of CryoSat‐2 SARIn mode data to obtain glacier elevations for 2011–2017. Individual elevation estimates are collected into 1‐km2 grid cells, and a least squares plane‐fitting technique is used to calculate rates of elevation change, with residuals being used to reveal the temporal pattern. A 7‐year rate of mass change of −16.0 ± 3.0 Gt a−1 is estimated (equivalent to 0.044 mm a−1 of global sea level rise), of which −11.0 Gt a−1 results from the melt and dynamic thinning of nonsurging ice and −5.0 Gt a−1 results from surges. This compares to ‐3.4 Gt a−1 previously estimated using ice, cloud, and land elevation satellite (ICESat) (2003–2008). The west coast remains a major contributor to mass loss from nonsurging ice in the archipelago, with mass loss increasing from areas bordering the Barents Sea. Sea ice concentration and climate reanalysis data sets show ocean and lower atmospheric warming and sea ice decline in this region, likely contributing to enhanced glacier melt and discharge.

Glacier Changes in Iceland From ∼1890 to 2019

“…Glaciers in most areas of the world are losing mass as global temperatures rise in response to increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere (e.g., Vaughan et al, 2013;Hock et al, 2019;Meredith et al, 2019;Zemp et al, 2019). In situ mass-balance observations are sparse (e.g., Zemp et al, 2020a), but with the aid of satellite and other remote-sensing data, an increasingly clear picture of glacier mass loss around the world has been appearing (e.g., Brun et al, 2017;Wouters et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2020;Shean et al, 2020). Glacier mass loss is a global phenomenon, and the rates in the early 21st century are unprecedented for the observed period (Zemp et al, 2015).…”

Increased Ice Thinning over Svalbard Measured by ICESat/ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry

“…An accompanied significant reduction in glacier area and mass balance through the 21st century is expected [16], which makes an investigation of recent elevation and mass change patterns indispensable. Simulations have already shown negative surface mass balance and mass loss since the 1980s at variable rates [15,17,18], which is supported by several remote-sensing based negative elevation and mass change estimates over the last decades [19][20][21]. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of ICESat and ICESat-2 data in Svalbard to determine elevation and mass change trends in the period of 2003-2008 to 2019.…”

“…The assessment of the used technique to derive ICESat/ICESat-2 results is provided through an in-depth analysis of the performance over Svalbard. In support of recent radar altimetry measurements [19], this use of precise laser acquisitions by ICESat/ICESat-2, with its unique properties, is expected to deliver detailed insights of elevation and mass change patterns in one of the most critical environments regarding climate change.…”

“…Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of ICESat and ICESat-2 data in Svalbard to determine elevation and mass change trends in the period of 2003-2008 to 2019. The derived ICESat/ICESat-2 change trends are compared to recent CryoSat-2 results between 2011-2017 [19], and observed alterations relative to 2003-2008 intra-ICESat acquisitions [20] are discussed. The assessment of the used technique to derive ICESat/ICESat-2 results is provided through an in-depth analysis of the performance over Svalbard.…”

Brief communication: Accelerated glacier mass loss in the Russian Arctic (2010–2017)

“…The Arctic has undergone large environmental changes due to increases in temperature and humidity (Box et al, 2019) and an increase in glacier mass loss has been observed in many polar regions (Morris et al, 2020). The Russian Arctic, including the archipelagos Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, is one of these regions.…”