A01-3: Unraveling spatio-temporal variations of the Antarctic ice sheet mass balance and its governing mechanisms

Principal Investigator of Planned Research

Research Outline

How will the Antarctic ice sheet mass balance change in response to the recent global warming? As the mass loss from the Antarctic ice sheet causes global sea level rise, it is an urgent challenge to understand accurately the processes modulating the mass balance and utilize the knowledge for reliable future projections. This study combines state-of-the-art field observation methods, satellite remote sensing, and numerical modeling techniques to quantify the mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet based on independent estimations of ice discharge and surface mass balance from 1980 to the present. Furthermore, near-future climate projections are carried out from the present to 2100 using an Earth System Model. Based on the attempts, this study provides a unified overview of the relationship between past, present, and future East Antarctic ice sheet mass balance and global climate change.

Keywords

Ice sheet mass balance, Surface mass balance, Ice discharge

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