Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2014
Keywords
InSAR, time series, ice mass balance, elastic half‐space, Young's Modulus
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GC004936
Abstract
We present a new method for estimating ice mass loss from glaciers and ice sheets using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time‐series data. We use a linear inversion method based on observations of nearby bedrock uplift and a solution for surface loading of an elastic half‐space. The method assumes that mass loss is focused on lower elevation terminal regions of the glacier or ice sheet, and that there is an exponential decrease in thinning rate toward the higher elevation interior. We apply the method to uplift rates between 1995 and 2009 near Vatnajökull, Iceland. The data reveal up to 13 mm/yr relative line‐of‐sight (LOS) velocity around the south‐western edge of Vatnajökull. We find an ice mass loss rate of Gt/yr, in approximate agreement with other estimates. Ice loss since 1995 is twice as fast as the loss rate estimated for the rest of the 20th century.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 15, issue 1, p. 108-120
©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Scholar Commons Citation
Zhao, Wenliang; Amelung, Falk; Dixon, Timothy H.; Wdowinski, Shimon; and Malservisi, Rocco, "A Method for Estimating Ice Mass Loss from Relative InSAR Observations: Application to the Vatnajökull Ice Cap, Iceland" (2014). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1540.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1540
Supporting Information Figure 1
Figure 2.jpg (1171 kB)
Supporting Information Figure 2
Supporting Information.docx (2160 kB)
Supporting Information
