Articles | Volume 17, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4903-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4903-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Nov 2023
Research article |
| 22 Nov 2023
| 22 Nov 2023
Combined GNSS reflectometry–refractometry for automated and continuous in situ surface mass balance estimation on an Antarctic ice shelf
Ladina Steiner
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
Holger Schmithüsen
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
Jens Wickert
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Institute of Geodesy, Technische Universität Berlin, 10553 Berlin, Germany
Olaf Eisen
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
Related authors
No articles found.
Emma Pearce, Dimitri Zigone, Coen Hofstede, Andreas Fichtner, Joachim Rimpot, Sune Olander Rasmussen, Johannes Freitag, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 18, 4917–4932, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4917-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4917-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our study near EastGRIP camp in Greenland shows varying firn properties by direction (crucial for studying ice stream stability, structure, surface mass balance, and past climate conditions). We used dispersion curve analysis of Love and Rayleigh waves to show firn is nonuniform along and across the flow of an ice stream due to wind patterns, seasonal variability, and the proximity to the edge of the ice stream. This method better informs firn structure, advancing ice stream understanding.
Robert G. Bingham, Julien A. Bodart, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Ailsa Chung, Rebecca J. Sanderson, Johannes C. R. Sutter, Olaf Eisen, Nanna B. Karlsson, Joseph A. MacGregor, Neil Ross, Duncan A. Young, David W. Ashmore, Andreas Born, Winnie Chu, Xiangbin Cui, Reinhard Drews, Steven Franke, Vikram Goel, John W. Goodge, A. Clara J. Henry, Antoine Hermant, Benjamin H. Hills, Nicholas Holschuh, Michelle R. Koutnik, Gwendolyn J.-M. C. Leysinger Vieli, Emma J. Mackie, Elisa Mantelli, Carlos Martín, Felix S. L. Ng, Falk M. Oraschewski, Felipe Napoleoni, Frédéric Parrenin, Sergey V. Popov, Therese Rieckh, Rebecca Schlegel, Dustin M. Schroeder, Martin J. Siegert, Xueyuan Tang, Thomas O. Teisberg, Kate Winter, Shuai Yan, Harry Davis, Christine F. Dow, Tyler J. Fudge, Tom A. Jordan, Bernd Kulessa, Kenichi Matsuoka, Clara J. Nyqvist, Maryam Rahnemoonfar, Matthew R. Siegfried, Shivangini Singh, Verjan Višnjević, Rodrigo Zamora, and Alexandra Zuhr
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2593, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The ice sheets covering Antarctica have built up over millenia through successive snowfall events which become buried and preserved as internal surfaces of equal age detectable with ice-penetrating radar. This paper describes an international initiative to work together on this archival data to build a comprehensive 3-D picture of how old the ice is everywhere across Antarctica, and how this will be used to reconstruct past and predict future ice and climate behaviour.
Tamara Annina Gerber, David A. Lilien, Niels F. Nymand, Daniel Steinhage, Olaf Eisen, and Dorthe Dahl-Jensen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2276, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2276, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores how anisotropic scattering and birefringence affect radar signals in ice sheets. Analyzing data from Northeast Greenland, we found anisotropic scattering, caused by small changes in ice crystals, dominates the azimuthal power response. We observe a strong link between scattering strength, orientation, and ice-sheet stratigraphy. Anisotropic scattering can thus be used to determine ice crystal orientation and distinguish ice units from different climatic periods.
Steven Franke, Daniel Steinhage, Veit Helm, Alexandra M. Zuhr, Julien A. Bodart, Olaf Eisen, and Paul Bons
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2349, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2349, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use radar technology to study the internal architecture of the ice sheet in western DML, East Antarctica. We identified and dated nine internal reflection horizons (IRHs), revealing important information about the ice sheet's history and dynamics. Some IRHs can be linked to past volcanic eruptions and are of similar age to IRHs detected in other parts of Antarctica. Our findings enhance our understanding of ice sheet behaviour and aid in developing better models for predicting future changes.
Falk M. Oraschewski, Inka Koch, M. Reza Ershadi, Jonathan D. Hawkins, Olaf Eisen, and Reinhard Drews
The Cryosphere, 18, 3875–3889, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3875-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3875-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Mountain glaciers have a layered structure which contains information about past snow accumulation and ice flow. Using ground-penetrating radar instruments, the internal structure can be observed. The detection of layers in the deeper parts of a glacier is often difficult. Here, we present a new approach for imaging the englacial structure of an Alpine glacier (Colle Gnifetti, Switzerland and Italy) using a phase-sensitive radar that can detect reflection depth changes at sub-wavelength scales.
Ole Zeising, Tore Hattermann, Lars Kaleschke, Sophie Berger, Reinhard Drews, M. Reza Ershadi, Tanja Fromm, Frank Pattyn, Daniel Steinhage, and Olaf Eisen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2109, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2109, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Basal melting of ice shelves impacts the mass loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. This study focuses on the Ekström Ice Shelf in East Antarctica, using multi-year data from an autonomous radar system. Results show a surprising seasonal pattern of high melt rates in winter and spring. Sea-ice growth correlates with melt rates, indicating that in winter, dense water enhances plume activity and melt rates. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for improving future mass balance projections.
Hameed Moqadam and Olaf Eisen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1674, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1674, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This is an overview on methodologies that have been applied to map the internal reflection horizons, or ice-layer boundaries, of ice sheets on earth and other planets. We briefly explain radar applications in glaciology and the methods which have been used and published. There are summaries of the published work of the last two decades. Finally, we conclude by introducing the gaps and opportunities for further advancement in this field, and present possible future directions.
Ailsa Chung, Frédéric Parrenin, Robert Mulvaney, Luca Vittuari, Massimo Frezzotti, Antonio Zanutta, David A. Lilien, Marie G. P. Cavitte, and Olaf Eisen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1650, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1650, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We applied an ice flow model to a flow line from the summit of Dome C to the Beyond EPICA ice core drill site on Little Dome C in Antarctica. Results show that the oldest ice at the drill site may be 1.12 Ma (at age density of 20 kyr/m) and originate from around 15 km upstream. We also discuss the nature of the 200–250 m thick basal layer which could be composed of accreted ice, stagnant ice, or even disturbed ice containing debris.
Rohith Thundathil, Florian Zus, Galina Dick, and Jens Wickert
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3599–3616, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3599-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3599-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provides moisture observations through its densely distributed ground station network. In this research, we assimilate a new type of observation called tropospheric gradient observations, which has never been incorporated into a weather model. We develop a forward operator for gradient-based observations and conduct an assimilation impact study. The study shows significant improvements in the model's humidity fields.
Zhuo Wang, Ailsa Chung, Daniel Steinhage, Frédéric Parrenin, Johannes Freitag, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 17, 4297–4314, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4297-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4297-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We combine radar-based observed internal layer stratigraphy of the ice sheet with a 1-D ice flow model in the Dome Fuji region. This results in maps of age and age density of the basal ice, the basal thermal conditions, and reconstructed accumulation rates. Based on modeled age we then identify four potential candidates for ice which is potentially 1.5 Myr old. Our map of basal thermal conditions indicates that melting prevails over the presence of stagnant ice in the study area.
Ailsa Chung, Frédéric Parrenin, Daniel Steinhage, Robert Mulvaney, Carlos Martín, Marie G. P. Cavitte, David A. Lilien, Veit Helm, Drew Taylor, Prasad Gogineni, Catherine Ritz, Massimo Frezzotti, Charles O'Neill, Heinrich Miller, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 17, 3461–3483, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We combined a numerical model with radar measurements in order to determine the age of ice in the Dome C region of Antarctica. Our results show that at the current ice core drilling sites on Little Dome C, the maximum age of the ice is almost 1.5 Ma. We also highlight a new potential drill site called North Patch with ice up to 2 Ma. Finally, we explore the nature of a stagnant ice layer at the base of the ice sheet which has been independently observed and modelled but is not well understood.
Konrad B. Bärfuss, Holger Schmithüsen, and Astrid Lampert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3739–3765, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3739-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3739-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The first atmospheric soundings with an electrically powered small uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) up to an altitude of 10 km are presented and assessed for quality, revealing the potential to augment atmospheric observations and fill observation gaps for numerical weather prediction. This is significant because of the need for high-resolution meteorological data, in particular in remote areas with limited in situ measurements, and for reference data for satellite measurement calibration.
Alice C. Frémand, Peter Fretwell, Julien A. Bodart, Hamish D. Pritchard, Alan Aitken, Jonathan L. Bamber, Robin Bell, Cesidio Bianchi, Robert G. Bingham, Donald D. Blankenship, Gino Casassa, Ginny Catania, Knut Christianson, Howard Conway, Hugh F. J. Corr, Xiangbin Cui, Detlef Damaske, Volkmar Damm, Reinhard Drews, Graeme Eagles, Olaf Eisen, Hannes Eisermann, Fausto Ferraccioli, Elena Field, René Forsberg, Steven Franke, Shuji Fujita, Yonggyu Gim, Vikram Goel, Siva Prasad Gogineni, Jamin Greenbaum, Benjamin Hills, Richard C. A. Hindmarsh, Andrew O. Hoffman, Per Holmlund, Nicholas Holschuh, John W. Holt, Annika N. Horlings, Angelika Humbert, Robert W. Jacobel, Daniela Jansen, Adrian Jenkins, Wilfried Jokat, Tom Jordan, Edward King, Jack Kohler, William Krabill, Mette Kusk Gillespie, Kirsty Langley, Joohan Lee, German Leitchenkov, Carlton Leuschen, Bruce Luyendyk, Joseph MacGregor, Emma MacKie, Kenichi Matsuoka, Mathieu Morlighem, Jérémie Mouginot, Frank O. Nitsche, Yoshifumi Nogi, Ole A. Nost, John Paden, Frank Pattyn, Sergey V. Popov, Eric Rignot, David M. Rippin, Andrés Rivera, Jason Roberts, Neil Ross, Anotonia Ruppel, Dustin M. Schroeder, Martin J. Siegert, Andrew M. Smith, Daniel Steinhage, Michael Studinger, Bo Sun, Ignazio Tabacco, Kirsty Tinto, Stefano Urbini, David Vaughan, Brian C. Welch, Douglas S. Wilson, Duncan A. Young, and Achille Zirizzotti
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2695–2710, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2695-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2695-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the release of over 60 years of ice thickness, bed elevation, and surface elevation data acquired over Antarctica by the international community. These data are a crucial component of the Antarctic Bedmap initiative which aims to produce a new map and datasets of Antarctic ice thickness and bed topography for the international glaciology and geophysical community.
Udo Frieß, Karin Kreher, Richard Querel, Holger Schmithüsen, Dan Smale, Rolf Weller, and Ulrich Platt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3207–3232, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3207-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3207-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Reactive bromine compounds, emitted by the sea ice during polar spring, play an important role in the atmospheric chemistry of the coastal regions of Antarctica. We investigate the sources and impacts of reactive bromine in detail using many years of measurements at two Antarctic sites located at opposite sides of the Antarctic continent. Using a multitude of meteorological observations, we were able to identify the main triggers and source regions for reactive bromine in Antarctica.
Ole Zeising, Tamara Annina Gerber, Olaf Eisen, M. Reza Ershadi, Nicolas Stoll, Ilka Weikusat, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 17, 1097–1105, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1097-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1097-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The flow of glaciers and ice streams is influenced by crystal fabric orientation. Besides sparse ice cores, these can be investigated by radar measurements. Here, we present an improved method which allows us to infer the horizontal fabric asymmetry using polarimetric phase-sensitive radar data. A validation of the method on a deep ice core from the Greenland Ice Sheet shows an excellent agreement, which is a large improvement over previously used methods.
Vjeran Višnjević, Reinhard Drews, Clemens Schannwell, Inka Koch, Steven Franke, Daniela Jansen, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 16, 4763–4777, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4763-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a simple way to model the internal layers of an ice shelf and apply the method to the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf in East Antarctica. Modeled results are compared to measurements obtained by radar. We distinguish between ice directly formed on the shelf and ice transported from the ice sheet, and we map the spatial changes in the volume of the locally accumulated ice. In this context, we discuss the sensitivity of the ice shelf to future changes in surface accumulation and basal melt.
Julian Gutt, Stefanie Arndt, David Keith Alan Barnes, Horst Bornemann, Thomas Brey, Olaf Eisen, Hauke Flores, Huw Griffiths, Christian Haas, Stefan Hain, Tore Hattermann, Christoph Held, Mario Hoppema, Enrique Isla, Markus Janout, Céline Le Bohec, Heike Link, Felix Christopher Mark, Sebastien Moreau, Scarlett Trimborn, Ilse van Opzeeland, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Fokje Schaafsma, Katharina Teschke, Sandra Tippenhauer, Anton Van de Putte, Mia Wege, Daniel Zitterbart, and Dieter Piepenburg
Biogeosciences, 19, 5313–5342, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5313-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5313-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Long-term ecological observations are key to assess, understand and predict impacts of environmental change on biotas. We present a multidisciplinary framework for such largely lacking investigations in the East Antarctic Southern Ocean, combined with case studies, experimental and modelling work. As climate change is still minor here but is projected to start soon, the timely implementation of this framework provides the unique opportunity to document its ecological impacts from the very onset.
Astrid Oetting, Emma C. Smith, Jan Erik Arndt, Boris Dorschel, Reinhard Drews, Todd A. Ehlers, Christoph Gaedicke, Coen Hofstede, Johann P. Klages, Gerhard Kuhn, Astrid Lambrecht, Andreas Läufer, Christoph Mayer, Ralf Tiedemann, Frank Wilhelms, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 16, 2051–2066, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2051-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2051-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study combines a variety of geophysical measurements in front of and beneath the Ekström Ice Shelf in order to identify and interpret geomorphological evidences of past ice sheet flow, extent and retreat.
The maximal extent of grounded ice in this region was 11 km away from the continental shelf break.
The thickness of palaeo-ice on the calving front around the LGM was estimated to be at least 305 to 320 m.
We provide essential boundary conditions for palaeo-ice-sheet models.
M. Reza Ershadi, Reinhard Drews, Carlos Martín, Olaf Eisen, Catherine Ritz, Hugh Corr, Julia Christmann, Ole Zeising, Angelika Humbert, and Robert Mulvaney
The Cryosphere, 16, 1719–1739, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1719-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1719-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Radio waves transmitted through ice split up and inform us about the ice sheet interior and orientation of single ice crystals. This can be used to infer how ice flows and improve projections on how it will evolve in the future. Here we used an inverse approach and developed a new algorithm to infer ice properties from observed radar data. We applied this technique to the radar data obtained at two EPICA drilling sites, where ice cores were used to validate our results.
Steven Franke, Daniela Jansen, Tobias Binder, John D. Paden, Nils Dörr, Tamara A. Gerber, Heinrich Miller, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Veit Helm, Daniel Steinhage, Ilka Weikusat, Frank Wilhelms, and Olaf Eisen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 763–779, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-763-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-763-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the largest ice stream in Greenland. In order to better understand the past and future dynamics of the NEGIS, we present a high-resolution airborne radar data set (EGRIP-NOR-2018) for the onset region of the NEGIS. The survey area is centered at the location of the drill site of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP), and radar profiles cover both shear margins and are aligned parallel to several flow lines.
Karina Wilgan, Galina Dick, Florian Zus, and Jens Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 21–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-21-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-21-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The assimilation of GNSS data in weather models has a positive impact on the forecasts. The impact is still limited due to using only the GPS zenith direction parameters. We calculate and validate more advanced tropospheric products from three satellite systems: the US American GPS, Russian GLONASS and European Galileo. The quality of all the solutions is comparable; however, combining more GNSS systems enhances the observations' geometry and improves the quality of the weather forecasts.
Johannes Sutter, Hubertus Fischer, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 15, 3839–3860, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3839-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3839-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Projections of global sea-level changes in a warming world require ice-sheet models. We expand the calibration of these models by making use of the internal architecture of the Antarctic ice sheet, which is formed by its evolution over many millennia. We propose that using our novel approach to constrain ice sheet models, we will be able to both sharpen our understanding of past and future sea-level changes and identify weaknesses in the parameterisation of current continental-scale models.
Benjamin Männel, Florian Zus, Galina Dick, Susanne Glaser, Maximilian Semmling, Kyriakos Balidakis, Jens Wickert, Marion Maturilli, Sandro Dahlke, and Harald Schuh
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5127–5138, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5127-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5127-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Within the MOSAiC expedition, GNSS was used to monitor variations in atmospheric water vapor. Based on 15 months of continuously tracked data, coordinates and hourly zenith total delays (ZTDs) were determined using kinematic precise point positioning. The derived ZTD values agree within few millimeters with ERA5 and terrestrial GNSS and VLBI stations. The derived integrated water vapor corresponds to the frequently launched radiosondes (0.08 ± 0.04 kg m−2, rms of the differences of 1.47 kg m−2).
David A. Lilien, Daniel Steinhage, Drew Taylor, Frédéric Parrenin, Catherine Ritz, Robert Mulvaney, Carlos Martín, Jie-Bang Yan, Charles O'Neill, Massimo Frezzotti, Heinrich Miller, Prasad Gogineni, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 15, 1881–1888, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1881-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1881-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We collected radar data between EDC, an ice core spanning ~800 000 years, and BELDC, the site chosen for a new
oldest icecore at nearby Little Dome C. These data allow us to identify 50 % older internal horizons than previously traced in the area. We fit a model to the ages of those horizons at BELDC to determine the age of deep ice there. We find that there is likely to be 1.5 Myr old ice ~265 m above the bed, with sufficient resolution to preserve desired climatic information.
Coen Hofstede, Sebastian Beyer, Hugh Corr, Olaf Eisen, Tore Hattermann, Veit Helm, Niklas Neckel, Emma C. Smith, Daniel Steinhage, Ole Zeising, and Angelika Humbert
The Cryosphere, 15, 1517–1535, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1517-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1517-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Support Force Glacier rapidly flows into Filcher Ice Shelf of Antarctica. As we know little about this glacier and its subglacial drainage, we used seismic energy to map the transition area from grounded to floating ice where a drainage channel enters the ocean cavity. Soft sediments close to the grounding line are probably transported by this drainage channel. The constant ice thickness over the steeply dipping seabed of the ocean cavity suggests a stable transition and little basal melting.
Stefan Kowalewski, Veit Helm, Elizabeth Mary Morris, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 15, 1285–1305, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1285-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1285-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents estimates of total mass input for the Pine Island Glacier (PIG) over the period 2005–2014 from airborne radar measurements. Our analysis reveals a total mass input similar to an earlier estimate for the period 1985–2009 and same area. This suggests a stationary total mass input contrary to the accelerated mass loss of PIG over the past decades. However, we also find that its uncertainty is highly sensitive to the geostatistical assumptions required for its calculation.
Clemens Schannwell, Reinhard Drews, Todd A. Ehlers, Olaf Eisen, Christoph Mayer, Mika Malinen, Emma C. Smith, and Hannes Eisermann
The Cryosphere, 14, 3917–3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3917-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3917-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
To reduce uncertainties associated with sea level rise projections, an accurate representation of ice flow is paramount. Most ice sheet models rely on simplified versions of the underlying ice flow equations. Due to the high computational costs, ice sheet models based on the complete ice flow equations have been restricted to < 1000 years. Here, we present a new model setup that extends the applicability of such models by an order of magnitude, permitting simulations of 40 000 years.
Alexander H. Weinhart, Johannes Freitag, Maria Hörhold, Sepp Kipfstuhl, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 14, 3663–3685, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
From 1 m snow profiles along a traverse on the East Antarctic Plateau, we calculated a representative surface snow density of 355 kg m−3 for this region with an error less than 1.5 %.
This density is 10 % higher and density fluctuations seem to happen on smaller scales than climate model outputs suggest. Our study can help improve the parameterization of surface snow density in climate models to reduce the error in future sea level predictions.
Stefanie Arndt, Mario Hoppmann, Holger Schmithüsen, Alexander D. Fraser, and Marcel Nicolaus
The Cryosphere, 14, 2775–2793, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2775-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2775-2020, 2020
Andrea K. Steiner, Florian Ladstädter, Chi O. Ao, Hans Gleisner, Shu-Peng Ho, Doug Hunt, Torsten Schmidt, Ulrich Foelsche, Gottfried Kirchengast, Ying-Hwa Kuo, Kent B. Lauritsen, Anthony J. Mannucci, Johannes K. Nielsen, William Schreiner, Marc Schwärz, Sergey Sokolovskiy, Stig Syndergaard, and Jens Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2547–2575, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2547-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2547-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
High-quality observations are critically important for monitoring the Earth’s changing climate. We provide information on the consistency and long-term stability of observations from GPS radio occultation (RO). We assess, for the first time, RO records from multiple RO missions and all major RO data providers. Our results quantify where RO can be used for reliable trend assessment and confirm its climate quality.
Ankur Kepkar, Christina Arras, Jens Wickert, Harald Schuh, Mahdi Alizadeh, and Lung-Chih Tsai
Ann. Geophys., 38, 611–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-611-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-611-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The paper focuses on the analyses of the global occurrence of equatorial plasma bubble events using S4 data that were calculated from GPS radio occultation measurements of the FormoSat-3/COSMIC mission. The advantage in using radio occultation data is that we get information not only on the occurrence and intensity of the equatorial bubble events, but also on the altitude distribution. We analyzed a 10.5-year time series of COSMIC data and demonstrated a strong dependence on the solar cycle.
Achim Heilig, Olaf Eisen, Martin Schneebeli, Michael MacFerrin, C. Max Stevens, Baptiste Vandecrux, and Konrad Steffen
The Cryosphere, 14, 385–402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-385-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-385-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the spatial representativeness of point observations of snow accumulation in SW Greenland. Such analyses have rarely been conducted but are necessary to link regional-scale observations from, e.g., remote-sensing data to firn cores and snow pits. The presented data reveal a low regional variability in density but snow depth can vary significantly. It is necessary to combine pits with spatial snow depth data to increase the regional representativeness of accumulation observations.
Clemens Schannwell, Reinhard Drews, Todd A. Ehlers, Olaf Eisen, Christoph Mayer, and Fabien Gillet-Chaulet
The Cryosphere, 13, 2673–2691, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2673-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2673-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Ice rises are important ice-sheet features that archive the ice sheet's history in their internal structure. Here we use a 3-D numerical ice-sheet model to simulate mechanisms that lead to changes in the geometry of the internal structure. We find that changes in snowfall result in much larger and faster changes than similar changes in ice-shelf geometry. This result is integral to fully unlocking the potential of ice rises as ice-dynamic archives and potential ice-core drilling sites.
Johannes Sutter, Hubertus Fischer, Klaus Grosfeld, Nanna B. Karlsson, Thomas Kleiner, Brice Van Liefferinge, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 13, 2023–2041, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2023-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2023-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Antarctic Ice Sheet may have played an important role in moderating the transition between warm and cold climate epochs over the last million years. We find that the Antarctic Ice Sheet grew considerably about 0.9 Myr ago, a time when ice-age–warm-age cycles changed from a
40 000 to a 100 000 year periodicity. Our findings also suggest that ice as old as 1.5 Myr still exists at the bottom of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet despite the major climate reorganisations in the past.
Anna Winter, Daniel Steinhage, Timothy T. Creyts, Thomas Kleiner, and Olaf Eisen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1069–1081, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1069-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1069-2019, 2019
Tetsuro Taranczewski, Johannes Freitag, Olaf Eisen, Bo Vinther, Sonja Wahl, and Sepp Kipfstuhl
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2018-280, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2018-280, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
We used melt layers detected in ice cores from the Renland ice cap in East Greenland to find evidence of past climate trends in this region. Our record provides such information for the past 10,000 years. We developed an attempt to increase the reliability of such a record by correcting deformation-induced biases. It proves that such simple to obtain melt records can be used to gather information about paleoclimate especially for regions where climate records are sparse.
Erlend M. Knudsen, Bernd Heinold, Sandro Dahlke, Heiko Bozem, Susanne Crewell, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Georg Heygster, Daniel Kunkel, Marion Maturilli, Mario Mech, Carolina Viceto, Annette Rinke, Holger Schmithüsen, André Ehrlich, Andreas Macke, Christof Lüpkes, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17995–18022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The paper describes the synoptic development during the ACLOUD/PASCAL airborne and ship-based field campaign near Svalbard in spring 2017. This development is presented using near-surface and upperair meteorological observations, satellite, and model data. We first present time series of these data, from which we identify and characterize three key periods. Finally, we put our observations in historical and regional contexts and compare our findings to other Arctic field campaigns.
Brice Van Liefferinge, Frank Pattyn, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Nanna B. Karlsson, Duncan A. Young, Johannes Sutter, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 12, 2773–2787, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2773-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2773-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper provides an important review of the state of knowledge for oldest-ice prospection, but also adds new basal geothermal heat flux constraints from recently acquired high-definition radar data sets. This is the first paper to contrast the two primary target regions for oldest ice: Dome C and Dome Fuji. Moreover, we provide statistical comparisons of all available data sets and a summary of the community's criteria for the retrieval of interpretable oldest ice since the 2013 effort.
Amelie Driemel, John Augustine, Klaus Behrens, Sergio Colle, Christopher Cox, Emilio Cuevas-Agulló, Fred M. Denn, Thierry Duprat, Masato Fukuda, Hannes Grobe, Martial Haeffelin, Gary Hodges, Nicole Hyett, Osamu Ijima, Ain Kallis, Wouter Knap, Vasilii Kustov, Charles N. Long, David Longenecker, Angelo Lupi, Marion Maturilli, Mohamed Mimouni, Lucky Ntsangwane, Hiroyuki Ogihara, Xabier Olano, Marc Olefs, Masao Omori, Lance Passamani, Enio Bueno Pereira, Holger Schmithüsen, Stefanie Schumacher, Rainer Sieger, Jonathan Tamlyn, Roland Vogt, Laurent Vuilleumier, Xiangao Xia, Atsumu Ohmura, and Gert König-Langlo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1491–1501, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1491-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1491-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) collects and centrally archives high-quality ground-based radiation measurements in 1 min resolution. More than 10 300 months, i.e., > 850 years, of high-radiation data in 1 min resolution from the years 1992 to 2017 are available. The network currently comprises 59 stations collectively representing all seven continents as well as island-based stations in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic oceans.
Nanna B. Karlsson, Tobias Binder, Graeme Eagles, Veit Helm, Frank Pattyn, Brice Van Liefferinge, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 12, 2413–2424, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2413-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2413-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we investigate the probability that the Dome Fuji region in East Antarctica contains ice more than 1.5 Ma old. The retrieval of a continuous ice-core record extending beyond 1 Ma is imperative to understand why the frequency of ice ages changed from 40 to 100 ka approximately 1 Ma ago.
We use a new radar dataset to improve the ice thickness maps, and apply a thermokinematic model to predict basal temperature and age of the ice. Our results indicate several areas of interest.
Achim Heilig, Olaf Eisen, Michael MacFerrin, Marco Tedesco, and Xavier Fettweis
The Cryosphere, 12, 1851–1866, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1851-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1851-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents data on temporal changes in snow and firn, which were not available before. We present data on water infiltration in the percolation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet that improve our understanding of liquid water retention in snow and firn and mass transfer. We compare those findings with model simulations. It appears that simulated accumulation in terms of SWE is fairly accurate, while modeling of the individual parameters density and liquid water content is incorrect.
Johanna Kerch, Anja Diez, Ilka Weikusat, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 12, 1715–1734, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1715-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1715-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the effect of crystal anisotropy on seismic velocities in glacier ice by calculating seismic phase velocities using the exact c axis angles to describe the crystal orientations in ice-core samples for an alpine and a polar ice core. Our results provide uncertainty estimates for earlier established approximative calculations. Additionally, our findings highlight the variation in seismic velocity at non-vertical incidence as a function of the horizontal azimuth of the seismic plane.
Christoph Florian Schaller, Johannes Freitag, and Olaf Eisen
Clim. Past, 13, 1685–1693, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1685-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1685-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In order to interpret the paleoclimatic record stored in the air enclosed in polar ice cores, it is crucial to understand the fundamental lock-in process. In our study, we present the first extensive data set of direct firn microstructure measurements and use it to show that the critical porosity of gas enclosure is independent of the climatic site conditions (such as temperature and accumulation rate). This leads to significant changes in dating and interpretation of ice-core gas records.
Fadwa Alshawaf, Kyriakos Balidakis, Galina Dick, Stefan Heise, and Jens Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3117–3132, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3117-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3117-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we aimed at estimating climatic trends using precipitable water vapor time series and surface measurements of air temperature in Germany. We used GNSS, ERA-Interim, and synoptic data. The results show mainly a positive trend in precipitable water vapor and temperature with an increase in the trend when moving to northeastern Germany.
Anna Winter, Daniel Steinhage, Emily J. Arnold, Donald D. Blankenship, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Hugh F. J. Corr, John D. Paden, Stefano Urbini, Duncan A. Young, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 11, 653–668, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-653-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-653-2017, 2017
Cuixian Lu, Florian Zus, Maorong Ge, Robert Heinkelmann, Galina Dick, Jens Wickert, and Harald Schuh
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5965–5973, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5965-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5965-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The recent dramatic development of multi-GNSS constellations brings great opportunities and potential for more enhanced precise positioning, navigation, timing, and other applications. In this contribution, we develop a numerical weather model (NWM) constrained PPP processing system to improve the multi-GNSS precise positioning. Compared to the standard PPP solution, significant improvements of both convergence time and positioning accuracy are achieved with the NWM-constrained PPP solution.
Christoph Florian Schaller, Johannes Freitag, Sepp Kipfstuhl, Thomas Laepple, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 10, 1991–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1991-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1991-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Along a traverse through North Greenland in May 2015 we collected snow cores up to 2 m in depth and analyzed their properties (e.g., density). A new technique for this sampling and an adapted algorithm for comparing data sets from different positions and aligning stratigraphic features are presented. We find good agreement of the density layering in the snowpack over hundreds of kilometers. This allows the construction of a representative density profile that is statistically validated.
Fadwa Alshawaf, Galina Dick, Stefan Heise, Tzvetan Simeonov, Sibylle Vey, Torsten Schmidt, and Jens Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-151, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, we use time series from GNSS, European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis (ERA-Interim) data, and meteorological measurements to evaluate climate evolution in Central Europe. We monitor different atmospheric variables such as temperature, PWV, precipitation, and snow cover. The results show an increasing trend the water vapor time series that are correlated with the trend the temperature tme series. The average increase of water vapor is about 0.3–0.6 mm/decade .
T. Ning, J. Wang, G. Elgered, G. Dick, J. Wickert, M. Bradke, M. Sommer, R. Querel, and D. Smale
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 79–92, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-79-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-79-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Integrated water vapour (IWV) obtained from GNSS is to be developed into a GRUAN data product. In addition to the actual measurement, this data product needs to provide an estimate of the measurement uncertainty at the same time resolution as the actual measurement. The method developed in the paper fulfils the requirement by assigning a specific uncertainty to each data point. The method is also valuable for all applications of GNSS IWV data in atmospheric research and weather forecast.
N. Wever, L. Schmid, A. Heilig, O. Eisen, C. Fierz, and M. Lehning
The Cryosphere, 9, 2271–2293, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2271-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2271-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
A verification of the physics based SNOWPACK model with field observations showed that typical snowpack properties like density and temperature are adequately simulated. Also two water transport schemes were verified, showing that although Richards equation improves snowpack runoff and several aspects of the internal snowpack structure, the bucket scheme appeared to have a higher agreement with the snow microstructure. The choice of water transport scheme may depend on the intended application.
A. Diez and O. Eisen
The Cryosphere, 9, 367–384, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-367-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-367-2015, 2015
A. Diez, O. Eisen, C. Hofstede, A. Lambrecht, C. Mayer, H. Miller, D. Steinhage, T. Binder, and I. Weikusat
The Cryosphere, 9, 385–398, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-385-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-385-2015, 2015
M. Shangguan, S. Heise, M. Bender, G. Dick, M. Ramatschi, and J. Wickert
Ann. Geophys., 33, 55–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-55-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-55-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present validation results covering 184 days of SIWV (slant-integrated water vapor) observed by a ground-based GPS receiver and a WVR (water vapor radiometer). SIWV data from GPS and WVR generally show good agreement, and the relation between their differences and possible influential factors are analyzed. The differences in SIWV show a relative elevation dependence. Besides the elevation, dependencies between the atmospheric humidity conditions, temperature and differences in SIWV are found.
F. Zus, G. Beyerle, S. Heise, T. Schmidt, and J. Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-7-12719-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-7-12719-2014, 2014
Preprint withdrawn
Related subject area
Discipline: Ice sheets | Subject: Mass Balance Obs
Mapping geodetically inferred Antarctic ice surface height changes into thickness changes: a sensitivity study
Globally consistent estimates of high-resolution Antarctic ice mass balance and spatially resolved glacial isostatic adjustment
On the importance of the humidity flux for the surface mass balance in the accumulation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Evaluating Greenland surface-mass-balance and firn-densification data using ICESat-2 altimetry
The regional-scale surface mass balance of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, over the period 2005–2014, derived from airborne radar soundings and neutron probe measurements
Sensitivity of inverse glacial isostatic adjustment estimates over Antarctica
Recent precipitation decrease across the western Greenland ice sheet percolation zone
How does the ice sheet surface mass balance relate to snowfall? Insights from a ground-based precipitation radar in East Antarctica
Spatial and temporal distributions of surface mass balance between Concordia and Vostok stations, Antarctica, from combined radar and ice core data: first results and detailed error analysis
Natasha Valencic, Linda Pan, Konstantin Latychev, Natalya Gomez, Evelyn Powell, and Jerry X. Mitrovica
The Cryosphere, 18, 2969–2978, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2969-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2969-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify the effect of ongoing Antarctic bedrock uplift due to Ice Age or modern ice mass changes on estimates of ice thickness changes obtained from satellite-based ice height measurements. We find that variations in the Ice Age signal introduce an uncertainty in estimates of total Antarctic ice change of up to ~10%. Moreover, the usual assumption that the mapping between modern ice height and thickness changes is uniform systematically underestimates net Antarctic ice volume changes.
Matthias O. Willen, Martin Horwath, Eric Buchta, Mirko Scheinert, Veit Helm, Bernd Uebbing, and Jürgen Kusche
The Cryosphere, 18, 775–790, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-775-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-775-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Shrinkage of the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) leads to sea level rise. Satellite gravimetry measures AIS mass changes. We apply a new method that overcomes two limitations: low spatial resolution and large uncertainties due to the Earth's interior mass changes. To do so, we additionally include data from satellite altimetry and climate and firn modelling, which are evaluated in a globally consistent way with thoroughly characterized errors. The results are in better agreement with independent data.
Laura J. Dietrich, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Sonja Wahl, Anne-Katrine Faber, and Xavier Fettweis
The Cryosphere, 18, 289–305, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-289-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-289-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The contribution of the humidity flux to the surface mass balance in the accumulation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet is uncertain. Here, we evaluate the regional climate model MAR using a multi-annual dataset of eddy covariance measurements and bulk estimates of the humidity flux. The humidity flux largely contributes to the summer surface mass balance (SMB) in the accumulation zone, indicating its potential importance for the annual SMB in a warming climate.
Benjamin E. Smith, Brooke Medley, Xavier Fettweis, Tyler Sutterley, Patrick Alexander, David Porter, and Marco Tedesco
The Cryosphere, 17, 789–808, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-789-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-789-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use repeated satellite measurements of the height of the Greenland ice sheet to learn about how three computational models of snowfall, melt, and snow compaction represent actual changes in the ice sheet. We find that the models do a good job of estimating how the parts of the ice sheet near the coast have changed but that two of the models have trouble representing surface melt for the highest part of the ice sheet. This work provides suggestions for how to better model snowmelt.
Stefan Kowalewski, Veit Helm, Elizabeth Mary Morris, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 15, 1285–1305, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1285-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1285-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents estimates of total mass input for the Pine Island Glacier (PIG) over the period 2005–2014 from airborne radar measurements. Our analysis reveals a total mass input similar to an earlier estimate for the period 1985–2009 and same area. This suggests a stationary total mass input contrary to the accelerated mass loss of PIG over the past decades. However, we also find that its uncertainty is highly sensitive to the geostatistical assumptions required for its calculation.
Matthias O. Willen, Martin Horwath, Ludwig Schröder, Andreas Groh, Stefan R. M. Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 14, 349–366, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-349-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-349-2020, 2020
Gabriel Lewis, Erich Osterberg, Robert Hawley, Hans Peter Marshall, Tate Meehan, Karina Graeter, Forrest McCarthy, Thomas Overly, Zayta Thundercloud, and David Ferris
The Cryosphere, 13, 2797–2815, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2797-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2797-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We present accumulation records from sixteen 22–32 m long firn cores and 4436 km of ground-penetrating radar, covering the past 20–60 years of accumulation, collected across the western Greenland Ice Sheet percolation zone. Trends from both radar and firn cores, as well as commonly used regional climate models, show decreasing accumulation over the 1996–2016 period.
Niels Souverijns, Alexandra Gossart, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Stef Lhermitte, Alexander Mangold, Quentin Laffineur, Andy Delcloo, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
The Cryosphere, 12, 1987–2003, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1987-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1987-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This work is the first to gain insight into the local surface mass balance over Antarctica using accurate long-term snowfall observations. A non-linear relationship between accumulation and snowfall is discovered, indicating that total surface mass balance measurements are not a good proxy for snowfall over Antarctica. Furthermore, the meteorological drivers causing changes in the local SMB are identified.
Emmanuel Le Meur, Olivier Magand, Laurent Arnaud, Michel Fily, Massimo Frezzotti, Marie Cavitte, Robert Mulvaney, and Stefano Urbini
The Cryosphere, 12, 1831–1850, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1831-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1831-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents surface mass balance measurements from both GPR and ice core data collected during a traverse in a so-far-unexplored area between the DC and Vostok stations. Results presented here will contribute to a better knowledge of the global mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet and thus help in constraining its contribution to sea level rise. Another novelty of the paper resides in the comprehensive error budget proposed for the method used for inferring accumulation rates.
Cited articles
Arslan, A. N., Tanis, C. M., Metsaemaeki, S., Aurela, M., Boettcher, K., Linkosalmi, M., and Peltoniemi, M.: Automated webcam monitoring of fractional snow cover in northern boreal conditions, Geosciences, 7, 55, https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7030055, 2017. a
Beaumont, R.: Hood pressure pillow snow gage, J. Appl. Meteorol., 4, 626–631, 1965. a
Capelli, A., Koch, F., Henkel, P., Lamm, M., Appel, F., Marty, C., and Schweizer, J.: GNSS signal-based snow water equivalent determination for different snowpack conditions along a steep elevation gradient, The Cryosphere, 16, 505–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-505-2022, 2022. a
Davison, B. J., Hogg, A. E., Rigby, R., Veldhuijsen, S., van Wessem, J. M., van den Broeke, M. R., Holland, P. R., Selley, H. L., and Dutrieux, P.: Sea level rise from West Antarctic mass loss significantly modified by large snowfall anomalies, Nat. Commun., 14, 2041–1723, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36990-3, 2023. a
Eisen, O., Frezzotti, M., Genthon, C., Isaksson, E., Magand, O., van den Broeke, M. R., Dixon, D. A., Ekaykin, A., Holmlund, P., Kameda, T., Karlöf, L., Kaspari, S., Lipenkov, V. Y., Oerter, H., Takahashi, S., and Vaughan, D. G.: Ground-based measurements of spatial and temporal variability of snow accumulation in East Antarctica, Rev. Geophys., 46, RG2001, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006RG000218, 2008. a
Emlid: Emlid Reach M2 multi-band receiver specifications, https://store.emlid.com/eu/product/reachm2/ (last access: 17 April 2023), 2023. a
Frey, O., Werner, C. L., Caduff, R., and Wiesmann, A.: Tomographic profiling with Snowscat within the ESA Snowlab Campaign: Time series of snow profiles over three snow seasons, in: IGARSS 2018–2018 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 6512–6515, https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2018.8517692, 2018. a
Gardner, A. S., Moholdt, G., Cogley, J. G., Wouters, B., Arendt, A. A., Wahr, J., Berthier, E., Hock, R., Pfeffer, W. T., Kaser, G., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Bolch, T., Sharp, M. J., Hagen, J. O., van den Broeke, M. R., and Paul, F.: A reconciled estimate of glacier contributions to sea level rise: 2003 to 2009, Science, 340, 852–857, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1234532, 2013. a
G. Lufft Mess- und Regeltechnik GmbH: SHM 30 Snow Depth Sensor User Manual, https://www.lufft.com/de-de/downloads/ (last access: 7 November 2023), 2015. a
Grosfeld, K., Treffeisen, R., Asseng, J., Bartsch, A., Bräuer, B., Fritzsch, B., Gerdes, R., Hendricks, S., Hiller, W., Heygster, G., Krumpen, T., Lemke, P., Melsheimer, C., Nicolaus, M., Ricker, R., and Weigelt, M.: Online sea-ice knowledge and data platform, https://doi.org/10.2312/polfor.2016.011, 2016. a
Gschwend, F.: Schneehöhenmessung mit GPS, masters thesis, Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, ETH Zurich, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12948.35202, 2012. a
Gugerli, R., Salzmann, N., Huss, M., and Desilets, D.: Continuous and autonomous snow water equivalent measurements by a cosmic ray sensor on an alpine glacier, The Cryosphere, 13, 3413–3434, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3413-2019, 2019. a
Gutmann, E. D., Larson, K. M., Williams, M. W., Nievinski, F. G., and Zavorotny, V.: Snow measurement by GPS interferometric reflectometry: an evaluation at Niwot Ridge, Colorado, Hydrol. Process., 26, 2951–2961, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8329, 2012. a
Hanna, E., Huybrechts, P., Steffen, K., Cappelen, J., Huff, R., Shuman, C., Irvine-Fynn, T., Wise, S., and Griffiths, M.: Increased runoff from melt from the Greenland Ice Sheet: A response to global warming, J. Climate, 21, 331–341, https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JCLI1964.1, 2008. a
Heilig, A., Eisen, O., MacFerrin, M., Tedesco, M., and Fettweis, X.: Seasonal monitoring of melt and accumulation within the deep percolation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet and comparison with simulations of regional climate modeling, The Cryosphere, 12, 1851–1866, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1851-2018, 2018. a
Heilig, A., Eisen, O., Schneebeli, M., MacFerrin, M., Stevens, C. M., Vandecrux, B., and Steffen, K.: Relating regional and point measurements of accumulation in southwest Greenland, The Cryosphere, 14, 385–402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-385-2020, 2020. a, b
Helm, V., Humbert, A., and Miller, H.: Elevation and elevation change of Greenland and Antarctica derived from CryoSat-2, The Cryosphere, 8, 1539–1559, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1539-2014, 2014. a
Henkel, P., Koch, F., Appel, F., Bach, H., Prasch, M., Schmid, L., Schweizer, J., and Mauser, W.: Snow water equivalent of dry snow derived from GNSS carrier phases, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 56, 3561–3572, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2018.2802494, 2018. a
Jakobs, C. L., Reijmer, C. H., Kuipers Munneke, P., König-Langlo, G., and van den Broeke, M. R.: Quantifying the snowmelt–albedo feedback at Neumayer Station, East Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 13, 1473–1485, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1473-2019, 2019. a
Jin, S. and Najibi, N.: Sensing snow height and surface temperature variations in Greenland from GPS reflected signals, Adv. Space Res., 53, 1623–1633, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2014.03.005, 2014. a, b
Johnson, J., Gelvin, A., Duvoy, P., Schaefer, G., Poole, G., and Horton, G.: Performance characteristics of a new electronic snow water equivalent sensor in different climates, Hydrol. Process., 29, 1418–1433, 2015. a
Kinar, N. and Pomeroy, J.: SAS2: the system for acoustic sensing of snow, Hydrol. Process., 29, 4032–4050, 2015. a
King, M. A., Bingham, R. J., Moore, P., Whitehouse, P. L., Bentley, M. J., and Milne, G. A.: Lower satellite-gravimetry estimates of Antarctic sea-level contribution, Nature, 491, 586–589, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11621, 2012. a
Koch, F., Henkel, P., Appel, F., Schmid, L., Bach, H., Lamm, M., Prasch, M., Schweizer, J., and Mauser, W.: Retrieval of snow water equivalent, liquid water content, and snow height of dry and wet snow by combining GPS signal attenuation and time delay, Water Resour. Res., 55, 4465–4487, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024431, 2019. a
Koppe, R., Gerchow, P., Macario, A., Haas, A., Schäfer-Neth, C., and Pfeiffenberger, H.: O2A: A generic framework for enabling the flow of sensor observations to archives and publications, in: OCEANS 2015 – Genova, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1109/OCEANS-Genova.2015.7271657, 2015. a
Larson, K. and Small, E.: Snow depth retrievals using L1 GPS signal-to-noise ratio data, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl., 9, 4802–4808, 2016. a
Larson, K., Gutmann, E., Zavorotny, V., Braun, J., Williams, M., and Nievinski, F.: Can we measure snow depth with GPS receivers?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L17502, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL039430, 2009. a, b, c
Larson, K. M.: kristinemlarson/gnssrefl: First release, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5601495, 2021. a
LeicaGeosystems: Leica Geosystems AG GNSS reference network antenna specifications, https://leica-geosystems.com/en-gb/products/gnss-reference-networks/antennas/leica-as10 (last access: 17 April 2023), 2023a. a
LeicaGeosystems: Leica Geosystems AG GNSS reference network receiver specifications, https://leica-geosystems.com/products/gnss-reference-networks/receivers/leica-gr50-and-gr30 (last access: 17 April 2023), 2023b. a
Leinss, S., Wiesmann, A., Lemmetyinen, J., and Hajnsek, I.: Snow water equivalent of dry snow measured by differential interferometry, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl., 8, 3773–3790, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2015.2432031, 2015. a
Lenaerts, J. T. M., Medley, B., van den Broeke, M. R., and Wouters, B.: Observing and modeling ice sheet surface mass balance, Rev. Geophys., 57, 376–420, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018RG000622, 2019. a
Limpach, P., Geiger, A., Gschwend, F., Ruesch, M., and Dawes, N.: Monitoring of snow height and snow water equivalent with GPS, EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, EGU2013-11920-2, 2013. a
Markus, T., Neumann, T., Martino, A., Abdalati, W., Brunt, K., Csatho, B., Farrell, S., Fricker, H., Gardner, A., Harding, D., Jasinski, M., Kwok, R., Magruder, L., Lubin, D., Luthcke, S., Morison, J., Nelson, R., Neuenschwander, A., Palm, S., Popescu, S., Shum, C., Schutz, B. E., Smith, B., Yang, Y., and Zwally, J.: The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2): Science requirements, concept, and implementation, Remote Sens. Environ., 190, 260–273, 2017. a
Medley, B. and Thomas, E.: Increased snowfall over the Antarctic Ice Sheet mitigated twentieth-century sea-level rise, Nat. Clim. Change, 9, 1758–6798, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0356-x, 2019. a
Nicolaus, M., Hoppmann, M., Arndt, S., Hendricks, S., Katlein, C., Nicolaus, A., Rossmann, L., Schiller, M., and Schwegmann, S.: Snow depth and air temperature seasonality on sea ice derived from snow buoy measurements, Front. Mar. Sci., 8, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.655446, 2021. a, b
Prokop, A.: Assessing the applicability of terrestrial laser scanning for spatial snow depth measurements, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 54, 155–163, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2008.07.002, 2008. a
RaspberryPi: Raspberry Pi 4 model b specifications, https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/specifications/ (last access: 17 April 2023), 2023. a
Rignot, E., Velicogna, I., van den Broeke, M. R., Monaghan, A., and Lenaerts, J. T. M.: Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L05503, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL046583, 2011. a
Schattan, P., Baroni, G., Oswald, S. E., Schöber, J., Fey, C., Kormann, C., Huttenlau, M., and Achleitner, S.: Continuous monitoring of snowpack dynamics in alpine terrain by aboveground neutron sensing, Water Resour. Res., 53, 3615–3634, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR020234, 2017. a
Schmid, L., Koch, F., Heilig, A., Prasch, M., Eisen, O., Mauser, W., and Schweizer, J.: A novel sensor combination (upGPR-GPS) to continuously and nondestructively derive snow cover properties, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 3397–3405, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063732, 2015. a
Schmithüsen, H.: High resolved snow height measurements at Neumayer Station, Antarctica (2010 et seq), PANGAEA [data set], https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.958970, 2023. a
Shean, D. E., Christianson, K., Larson, K. M., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Joughin, I. R., Smith, B. E., Stevens, C. M., Bushuk, M., and Holland, D. M.: GPS-derived estimates of surface mass balance and ocean-induced basal melt for Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 11, 2655–2674, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2655-2017, 2017. a
Shepherd, A., Ivins, E. R., A, G., Barletta, V. R., Bentley, M. J., Bettadpur, S., Briggs, K. H., Bromwich, D. H., Forsberg, R., Galin, N., Horwath, M., Jacobs, S., Joughin, I., King, M. A., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Li, J., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Luckman, A., Luthcke, S. B., McMillan, M., Meister, R., Milne, G., Mouginot, J., Muir, A., Nicolas, J. P., Paden, J., Payne, A. J., Pritchard, H., Rignot, E., Rott, H., Sørensen, L. S., Scambos, T. A., Scheuchl, B., Schrama, E. J. O., Smith, B., Sundal, A. V., van Angelen, J. H., van de Berg, W. J., van den Broeke, M. R., Vaughan, D. G., Velicogna, I., Wahr, J., Whitehouse, P. L., Wingham, D. J., Yi, D., Young, D., and Zwally, H. J.: A reconciled estimate of ice-sheet mass balance, Science, 338, 1183–1189, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1228102, 2012. a
Siegfried, M. R., Medley, B., Larson, K. M., Fricker, H. A., and Tulaczyk, S.: Snow accumulation variability on a West Antarctic ice stream observed with GPS reflectometry, 2007–2017, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 7808–7816, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074039, 2017. a
Smith, C. D., Kontu, A., Laffin, R., and Pomeroy, J. W.: An assessment of two automated snow water equivalent instruments during the WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment, The Cryosphere, 11, 101–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-101-2017, 2017. a
Soerensen, L. and Forsberg, R.: Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss from GRACE monthly models, Geoid and Earth Observation. International Association of Geodesy Symposia, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, vol. 135, 527–532, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10634-7_70, 2010. a
Steiner, L.: Continuous estimation of snow/firn accumulation, surface mass, and density on a moving surface using combined GNSS reflectometry/refractometry (GNSS-RR), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10135417, 2023. a
Steiner, L., Meindl, M., Fierz, C., and Geiger, A.: An assessment of sub snow GPS for quantification of snow water equivalent, The Cryosphere, 12, 3161–3175, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3161-2018, 2018a. a, b
Steiner, L., Meindl, M., and Geiger, A.: Characteristics and limitations of GPS L1 observations from submerged antennas, J. Geodesy, 93, 267–280, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-018-1147-x, 2018b. a
Steiner, L., Meindl, M., Fierz, C., Marty, C., and Geiger, A.: Monitoring snow water equivalent using low-cost GPS antennas buried underneath a snowpack, Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), Krakow, Poland, 31 March–5 April, Electronic ISBN 978-88-907018-8-7, 2019. a
Steiner, L., Meindl, M., Marty, C., and Geiger, A.: Impact of GPS processing on the estimation of snow water equivalent using refracted GPS signals, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 58, 123–135, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2019.2934016, 2020. a, b, c, d
Steiner, L., Studemann, G., Grimm, D. E., Marty, C., and Leinss, S.: (Near) real-time snow water equivalent observation using GNSS refractometry and RTKLIB, Sensors, 22, https://doi.org/10.3390/s22186918, 2022. a, b
Steiner, L., Eisen, O., and Schmithüsen, H.: GNSS refractometry/reflectometry (GNSS-RR) raw data near Neumayer Station in 2021–2023, PANGAEA [data set], https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.958973, 2023. a
Takasu, T.: RTKLIB: Open source program package for RTK-GPS, FOSS4G Tokyo, Japan, November 2, 2009, https://www.rtklib.com/ (last access: 7 November 2023), 2009. a
Ublox: U-blox multi-band antenna specifications, https://www.u-blox.com/en/product/ann-mb-series (last access: 17 April 2023), 2023. a
van den Broeke, M., Bamber, J., Ettema, J., Rignot, E., Schrama, E., van de Berg, W. J., van Meijgaard, E., Velicogna, I., and Wouters, B.: Partitioning recent Greenland mass loss, Science, 326, 984–986, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1178176, 2009. a
van den Broeke, M., Box, J., Fettweis, X., Hanna, E., Noël, B., Tedesco, M., van As, D., van de Berg, W. J., and van Kampenhout, L.: Greenland Ice Sheet surface mass loss: Recent developments in observation and modeling, Current Climate Change Reports, 3, 345–356, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-017-0084-8, 2017. a
van Wessem, J. M., van de Berg, W. J., Noël, B. P. Y., van Meijgaard, E., Amory, C., Birnbaum, G., Jakobs, C. L., Krüger, K., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Lhermitte, S., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Medley, B., Reijmer, C. H., van Tricht, K., Trusel, L. D., van Ulft, L. H., Wouters, B., Wuite, J., and van den Broeke, M. R.: Modelling the climate and surface mass balance of polar ice sheets using RACMO2 – Part 2: Antarctica (1979–2016), The Cryosphere, 12, 1479–1498, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1479-2018, 2018. a
Vandecrux, B., MacFerrin, M., Machguth, H., Colgan, W. T., van As, D., Heilig, A., Stevens, C. M., Charalampidis, C., Fausto, R. S., Morris, E. M., Mosley-Thompson, E., Koenig, L., Montgomery, L. N., Miège, C., Simonsen, S. B., Ingeman-Nielsen, T., and Box, J. E.: Firn data compilation reveals widespread decrease of firn air content in western Greenland, The Cryosphere, 13, 845–859, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-845-2019, 2019. a
Vaughan, D. G., Comiso, J. C., Allison, I., Carrasco, J., Kaser, G., Kwok, R., Mote, P., Murray, T., Paul, F., Ren, J., Rignot, E., Solomina, O., and and Tingjun Zhang, K. S.: Observations: Cryosphere, in: Climate Change 2013: The physical science basis, Contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Tech. rep., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, ISBN 978-1-107-05799-1 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-107-66182-0 (paperback), https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ (last access: 7 November 2022), 2013. a
Veldhuijsen, S. B. M., van de Berg, W. J., Brils, M., Kuipers Munneke, P., and van den Broeke, M. R.: Characteristics of the 1979–2020 Antarctic firn layer simulated with IMAU-FDM v1.2A, The Cryosphere, 17, 1675–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1675-2023, 2023. a
Velicogna, I. and Wahr, J.: Greenland mass balance from GRACE, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L18505, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL023955, 2005. a
Weinhart, A. H., Freitag, J., Hörhold, M., Kipfstuhl, S., and Eisen, O.: Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau, The Cryosphere, 14, 3663–3685, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020, 2020. a
Wesche, C., Weller, R., König-Langlo, G., Fromm, T., Eckstaller, A., Nixdorf, U., and Kohlberg, E.: Neumayer III and Kohnen Station in Antarctica operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Journal of large-scale research facilities JLSRF, 2, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.17815/jlsrf-2-152, 2016. a
Short summary
The present study illustrates the potential of a combined Global Navigation Satellite System reflectometry and refractometry (GNSS-RR) method for accurate, simultaneous, and continuous estimation of in situ snow accumulation, snow water equivalent, and snow density time series. The combined GNSS-RR method was successfully applied on a fast-moving, polar ice shelf. The combined GNSS-RR approach could be highly advantageous for a continuous quantification of ice sheet surface mass balances.
The present study illustrates the potential of a combined Global Navigation Satellite System...
