A study of Greenland ice sheet elevation change by using satellite altimeter data

Author

Khvorostovsky, K.S. ; Bobylev, L.P. ; Johannessen, O.M.

Author_Institution

Nansen Int. Environ. & Remote Sensing Center, St. Petersburg, Russia

Volume

2

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

943

Abstract

ERS-1 satellite radar altimeter measurements show that from 1992 to 1996 the average Greenland ice sheet elevation change is -1.7±0.6 cm/year. The spatial distribution of ice sheet elevation change reveals its relationship with the areas of maximum and minimum accumulation rates, the boundaries of drainage basins and snow and snow-firn zones. The elevation reduction is typical of the coastal regions where the phenomenon of climate warming can be revealed most evidently. It is shown that utilization in ice sheet elevation change studies the ERS altimeter ocean-mode data is not warrantable. Different threshold retracking corrections should be applied for various ice sheet areas. Similar features in the spatial distribution of the Greenland ice sheet elevation change derived from ERS-1 and Seasat × Geosat are observed

Keywords

glaciology; hydrological techniques; radar altimetry; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; AD 1992 to 1996; ERS-1 satellite radar altimeter measurements; Greenland Ice Sheet Elevation Change; accumulation rates; climate warming; drainage basins; snow zones; snow-firn zones; spatial distribution; threshold retracking corrections; Extraterrestrial measurements; Ice; Oceans; Radar measurements; Radar remote sensing; Remote sensing; Satellites; Sea measurements; Spaceborne radar; Tides;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2001. IGARSS '01. IEEE 2001 International

Conference_Location

Sydney, NSW

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7031-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.2001.976688

Filename

976688