Assessing Global Present-Day Surface Mass Transport and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment From Inversion of Geodetic Observations

Yan Jiang; Xiaoping Wu; Michiel R. van den Broeke; Peter Kuipers Munneke; Sebastian B. Simonsen; Wouter van der Wal; Bert L. Vermeersen

doi:10.1029/2020JB020713

Assessing Global Present-Day Surface Mass Transport and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment From Inversion of Geodetic Observations

Yan Jiang^*
, Xiaoping Wu
, Michiel R. van den Broeke
, Peter Kuipers Munneke
, Sebastian B. Simonsen
, Wouter van der Wal
, Bert L. Vermeersen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geological Survey of Canada
University of Victoria BC
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Technical University of Denmark
Delft University of Technology
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research - NIOZ

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

Abstract

Long-term monitoring of global mass transport within the Earth system improves our ability to mitigate natural hazards and better understand their relations to climate change. Satellite gravity is widely used to monitor surface mass variations for its unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage. However, the gravity data contain signals from visco-elastic deformation in response to past ice sheet melting, preventing us from extracting signals of present-day surface mass trend (PDMT) directly. Here we present a global inversion scheme that separates PDMT and visco-elastic glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signatures by combining satellite gravimetry with satellite altimetry and ground observations. Our inversion provides global dual data coverage that enables a robust separation of PDMT and GIA spherical harmonic coefficients. It has the advantage of providing estimates of Earth's long wavelength deformation signatures and their uncertainties. Our GIA result, along with its uncertainty estimates, can be used in future GRACE processing to better assess the impact of GIA on surface mass change. Our GIA estimates include a rapid GIA uplift in the Southeast Alaska and the Amundsen Sea Embayment, due to the visco-elastic response to recent glacial unloading. We estimate the average surface mass change rate from 2002–2010 to be −203 ± 3 GT·a⁻¹ in Greenland, −126 ± 18 GT·a⁻¹ in Antarctica and, −62 ± 5 GT·a⁻¹ in Alaska. The GIA low degree spherical harmonic coefficients are sensitive to rheological properties in Earth's deep interior. Our low-degree GIA estimates include geocenter motion and (Formula presented.) which provide unique constraints to understand Earth's lower mantle and ice history.

Original language	English
Article number	e2020JB020713
Number of pages	19
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Volume	126
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020713
Publication status	Published - May 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16‐ESI16‐0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16-ESI16-0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Journal of Geophysical Research. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada.

Funding

This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16‐ESI16‐0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript. This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16-ESI16-0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

geodesy
gravity
inversion
mass change

Access to Document

10.1029/2020JB020713

2020JB020713Final published version, 4.18 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

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title = "Assessing Global Present-Day Surface Mass Transport and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment From Inversion of Geodetic Observations",

abstract = "Long-term monitoring of global mass transport within the Earth system improves our ability to mitigate natural hazards and better understand their relations to climate change. Satellite gravity is widely used to monitor surface mass variations for its unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage. However, the gravity data contain signals from visco-elastic deformation in response to past ice sheet melting, preventing us from extracting signals of present-day surface mass trend (PDMT) directly. Here we present a global inversion scheme that separates PDMT and visco-elastic glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signatures by combining satellite gravimetry with satellite altimetry and ground observations. Our inversion provides global dual data coverage that enables a robust separation of PDMT and GIA spherical harmonic coefficients. It has the advantage of providing estimates of Earth's long wavelength deformation signatures and their uncertainties. Our GIA result, along with its uncertainty estimates, can be used in future GRACE processing to better assess the impact of GIA on surface mass change. Our GIA estimates include a rapid GIA uplift in the Southeast Alaska and the Amundsen Sea Embayment, due to the visco-elastic response to recent glacial unloading. We estimate the average surface mass change rate from 2002–2010 to be −203 ± 3 GT·a−1 in Greenland, −126 ± 18 GT·a−1 in Antarctica and, −62 ± 5 GT·a−1 in Alaska. The GIA low degree spherical harmonic coefficients are sensitive to rheological properties in Earth's deep interior. Our low-degree GIA estimates include geocenter motion and (Formula presented.) which provide unique constraints to understand Earth's lower mantle and ice history.",

keywords = "geodesy, gravity, inversion, mass change",

author = "Yan Jiang and Xiaoping Wu and \{van den Broeke\}, \{Michiel R.\} and \{Kuipers Munneke\}, Peter and Simonsen, \{Sebastian B.\} and \{van der Wal\}, Wouter and Vermeersen, \{Bert L.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16‐ESI16‐0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript. Funding Information: This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16-ESI16-0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Journal of Geophysical Research. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

doi = "10.1029/2020JB020713",

language = "English",

volume = "126",

journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth",

issn = "2169-9313",

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T1 - Assessing Global Present-Day Surface Mass Transport and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment From Inversion of Geodetic Observations

AU - Jiang, Yan

AU - Wu, Xiaoping

AU - van den Broeke, Michiel R.

AU - Kuipers Munneke, Peter

AU - Simonsen, Sebastian B.

AU - van der Wal, Wouter

AU - Vermeersen, Bert L.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16‐ESI16‐0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript. Funding Information: This work was supported by the NASA Earth Surface and Interior Program (grant number 16-ESI16-0009) and Natural Resources Canada's climate change and adaptation program. The research was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The authors acknowledge the partial US government sponsorship by the NASA'S GRACE Science Team and Earth Surface and Interior programs. The authors are grateful to the operators of ICESat, GPS, GRACE, and ECCO data archive for providing access to the data used in this study. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Journal of Geophysical Research. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada.

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Long-term monitoring of global mass transport within the Earth system improves our ability to mitigate natural hazards and better understand their relations to climate change. Satellite gravity is widely used to monitor surface mass variations for its unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage. However, the gravity data contain signals from visco-elastic deformation in response to past ice sheet melting, preventing us from extracting signals of present-day surface mass trend (PDMT) directly. Here we present a global inversion scheme that separates PDMT and visco-elastic glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signatures by combining satellite gravimetry with satellite altimetry and ground observations. Our inversion provides global dual data coverage that enables a robust separation of PDMT and GIA spherical harmonic coefficients. It has the advantage of providing estimates of Earth's long wavelength deformation signatures and their uncertainties. Our GIA result, along with its uncertainty estimates, can be used in future GRACE processing to better assess the impact of GIA on surface mass change. Our GIA estimates include a rapid GIA uplift in the Southeast Alaska and the Amundsen Sea Embayment, due to the visco-elastic response to recent glacial unloading. We estimate the average surface mass change rate from 2002–2010 to be −203 ± 3 GT·a−1 in Greenland, −126 ± 18 GT·a−1 in Antarctica and, −62 ± 5 GT·a−1 in Alaska. The GIA low degree spherical harmonic coefficients are sensitive to rheological properties in Earth's deep interior. Our low-degree GIA estimates include geocenter motion and (Formula presented.) which provide unique constraints to understand Earth's lower mantle and ice history.

AB - Long-term monitoring of global mass transport within the Earth system improves our ability to mitigate natural hazards and better understand their relations to climate change. Satellite gravity is widely used to monitor surface mass variations for its unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage. However, the gravity data contain signals from visco-elastic deformation in response to past ice sheet melting, preventing us from extracting signals of present-day surface mass trend (PDMT) directly. Here we present a global inversion scheme that separates PDMT and visco-elastic glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signatures by combining satellite gravimetry with satellite altimetry and ground observations. Our inversion provides global dual data coverage that enables a robust separation of PDMT and GIA spherical harmonic coefficients. It has the advantage of providing estimates of Earth's long wavelength deformation signatures and their uncertainties. Our GIA result, along with its uncertainty estimates, can be used in future GRACE processing to better assess the impact of GIA on surface mass change. Our GIA estimates include a rapid GIA uplift in the Southeast Alaska and the Amundsen Sea Embayment, due to the visco-elastic response to recent glacial unloading. We estimate the average surface mass change rate from 2002–2010 to be −203 ± 3 GT·a−1 in Greenland, −126 ± 18 GT·a−1 in Antarctica and, −62 ± 5 GT·a−1 in Alaska. The GIA low degree spherical harmonic coefficients are sensitive to rheological properties in Earth's deep interior. Our low-degree GIA estimates include geocenter motion and (Formula presented.) which provide unique constraints to understand Earth's lower mantle and ice history.

KW - geodesy

KW - gravity

KW - inversion

KW - mass change

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85106933340

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DO - 10.1029/2020JB020713

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85106933340

SN - 2169-9313

VL - 126

JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth

JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth

IS - 5

M1 - e2020JB020713

ER -

Assessing Global Present-Day Surface Mass Transport and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment From Inversion of Geodetic Observations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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