title: Surface mass balance contributions to acceleration of Antarctic ice mass loss during 2003-2013.
abstract: Recent observations from satellite gravimetry (the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission) suggest an acceleration of ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS). The contribution of surface mass balance changes (due to variable precipitation) is compared with GRACE-derived mass loss acceleration by assessing the estimated contribution of snow mass from meteorological reanalysis data. We find that over much of the continent, the acceleration can be explained by precipitation anomalies. However, on the Antarctic Peninsula and other parts of West Antarctica, mass changes are not explained by precipitation and are likely associated with ice discharge rate increases. The total apparent GRACE acceleration over all of the AIS between 2003 and 2013 is -13.6 ± 7.2 Gt/yr2. Of this total, we find that the surface mass balance component is -8.2 ± 2.0 Gt/yr2. However, the GRACE estimate appears to contain errors arising from the atmospheric pressure fields used to remove air mass effects. The estimated acceleration error from this effect is about 9.8 ± 5.8 Gt/yr2. Correcting for this yields an ice discharge acceleration of -15.1 ± 6.5 Gt/yr2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science Education Seoul National University Seoul South Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Weon
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA; Center for Space Research University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA.
authors.forename: Clark R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: National Snow and Ice Data Center University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USA.
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scambos
authors.affiliation: Division of Polar Earth System Sciences Korea Polar Research Institute Incheon South Korea.
authors.forename: Baek-Min
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Duane E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Waliser
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Baijun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9369-2373
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science Education Seoul National University Seoul South Korea.
authors.forename: Byeong-Hoon
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science Education Seoul National University Seoul South Korea.
authors.forename: Jooyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eom
keywords: Antarctica; GRACE; ice mass balance