Glacier Mass Loss Between 2010 and 2020 Dominated by Atmospheric Forcing

Livia Jakob; Noel Gourmelen

doi:10.1029/2023GL102954

Glacier Mass Loss Between 2010 and 2020 Dominated by Atmospheric Forcing

Livia Jakob
, Noel Gourmelen

School of GeoSciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We generate a high spatial and temporal record of ice loss across glaciers globally for the first time from CryoSat-2 swath interferometric radar altimetry. We show that between 2010 and 2020, glaciers lost a total of 272 ± 11 Gt yr−1 of ice, equivalent to a loss of 2% of their total volume during the 10-year study period. Using a simple parameterization, we demonstrate that during this period, surface mass balance anomaly dominated the mass budget, accounting for 89% ± 5% of the total ice loss. Ice discharge anomaly was responsible for 11% ± 1% of the total ice loss, and 28% ± 2% of the ice loss when excluding land-terminating sectors. Strong discharge anomaly is found over areas of changing oceanic conditions such as in the Barents and Kara Seas or in Antarctica, and areas fringed by lakes and fjords in Patagonia.

Original language	English
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	50
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL102954
Publication status	Published - 28 Apr 2023

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10.1029/2023GL102954Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

Geophysical Research Letters - 2023 - Jakob - Glacier Mass Loss Between 2010 and 2020 Dominated by Atmospheric Forcing
© 2023. The Authors. Geophysical Research Letters published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union
Final published version, 760 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL102954Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

STSE Cryosat + CryoTop Evolution
Gourmelen, N. (Principal Investigator)
EU other
1/04/16 → 30/11/19
Project: Research

Monthly glacier mass changes from CryoSat-2 radar altimetry
Jakob, L. (Creator) & Gourmelen, N. (Creator), Zenodo, 1 Jun 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7565993, https://zenodo.org/records/7565993
Dataset

CryoSat reveals ice loss from glaciers
Gourmelen, N.
26/04/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
Climate change: Satellite maps warming impact on global glaciers
Gourmelen, N.
26/04/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research

Cite this

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title = "Glacier Mass Loss Between 2010 and 2020 Dominated by Atmospheric Forcing",

abstract = "We generate a high spatial and temporal record of ice loss across glaciers globally for the first time from CryoSat-2 swath interferometric radar altimetry. We show that between 2010 and 2020, glaciers lost a total of 272 ± 11 Gt yr−1 of ice, equivalent to a loss of 2\% of their total volume during the 10-year study period. Using a simple parameterization, we demonstrate that during this period, surface mass balance anomaly dominated the mass budget, accounting for 89\% ± 5\% of the total ice loss. Ice discharge anomaly was responsible for 11\% ± 1\% of the total ice loss, and 28\% ± 2\% of the ice loss when excluding land-terminating sectors. Strong discharge anomaly is found over areas of changing oceanic conditions such as in the Barents and Kara Seas or in Antarctica, and areas fringed by lakes and fjords in Patagonia.",

author = "Livia Jakob and Noel Gourmelen",

note = "Funding Information: This work was performed under the European Space Agency's Support to Science Element CryoSat + Mountain Glacier project (4000114224/15/I-SBo) and raw swath data are provided under the European Space Agency's CryoTEMPO-EOLIS project (4000128095/19/I-DT). We particularly wish to thank Mark Drinkwater, Diego Fernandez and Stephen Plummer at the ESA for actively supporting the development of CryoSat-2 beyond the initial primary objectives of the mission. We are thankful to Johanna Kauffert for preparing reference DEMs and her input on gap filling methods for surging glaciers. We are grateful to Alex Horton, Martin Ewart, Sophie Dubber and Carolyn Michael for their inputs on optimizing the data processing and pipeline. We wish to thank Bert Wouters and an anonymous reviewer for providing constructive comments during the review process. We further thank the ESA for providing free access to CryoSat-2 data, the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) consortium for providing free access to glacier masks, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for providing free access to the TanDEM-X DEM, and the Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) for providing free access to the ArcticDEM and REMA. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023. The Authors. Geophysical Research Letters published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.",

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doi = "10.1029/2023GL102954",

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N1 - Funding Information: This work was performed under the European Space Agency's Support to Science Element CryoSat + Mountain Glacier project (4000114224/15/I-SBo) and raw swath data are provided under the European Space Agency's CryoTEMPO-EOLIS project (4000128095/19/I-DT). We particularly wish to thank Mark Drinkwater, Diego Fernandez and Stephen Plummer at the ESA for actively supporting the development of CryoSat-2 beyond the initial primary objectives of the mission. We are thankful to Johanna Kauffert for preparing reference DEMs and her input on gap filling methods for surging glaciers. We are grateful to Alex Horton, Martin Ewart, Sophie Dubber and Carolyn Michael for their inputs on optimizing the data processing and pipeline. We wish to thank Bert Wouters and an anonymous reviewer for providing constructive comments during the review process. We further thank the ESA for providing free access to CryoSat-2 data, the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) consortium for providing free access to glacier masks, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for providing free access to the TanDEM-X DEM, and the Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) for providing free access to the ArcticDEM and REMA. Publisher Copyright: © 2023. The Authors. Geophysical Research Letters published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.

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N2 - We generate a high spatial and temporal record of ice loss across glaciers globally for the first time from CryoSat-2 swath interferometric radar altimetry. We show that between 2010 and 2020, glaciers lost a total of 272 ± 11 Gt yr−1 of ice, equivalent to a loss of 2% of their total volume during the 10-year study period. Using a simple parameterization, we demonstrate that during this period, surface mass balance anomaly dominated the mass budget, accounting for 89% ± 5% of the total ice loss. Ice discharge anomaly was responsible for 11% ± 1% of the total ice loss, and 28% ± 2% of the ice loss when excluding land-terminating sectors. Strong discharge anomaly is found over areas of changing oceanic conditions such as in the Barents and Kara Seas or in Antarctica, and areas fringed by lakes and fjords in Patagonia.

AB - We generate a high spatial and temporal record of ice loss across glaciers globally for the first time from CryoSat-2 swath interferometric radar altimetry. We show that between 2010 and 2020, glaciers lost a total of 272 ± 11 Gt yr−1 of ice, equivalent to a loss of 2% of their total volume during the 10-year study period. Using a simple parameterization, we demonstrate that during this period, surface mass balance anomaly dominated the mass budget, accounting for 89% ± 5% of the total ice loss. Ice discharge anomaly was responsible for 11% ± 1% of the total ice loss, and 28% ± 2% of the ice loss when excluding land-terminating sectors. Strong discharge anomaly is found over areas of changing oceanic conditions such as in the Barents and Kara Seas or in Antarctica, and areas fringed by lakes and fjords in Patagonia.

U2 - 10.1029/2023GL102954

DO - 10.1029/2023GL102954

M3 - Article

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 50

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 8

ER -

Glacier Mass Loss Between 2010 and 2020 Dominated by Atmospheric Forcing

Abstract

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Projects

STSE Cryosat + CryoTop Evolution

Datasets

Monthly glacier mass changes from CryoSat-2 radar altimetry

Press/Media

CryoSat reveals ice loss from glaciers

Climate change: Satellite maps warming impact on global glaciers

Cite this