Simultaneous Determination of Horizontal and Vertical Accuracy of ICESat-2 in McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Outlet glaciers are projected to account for half of the total ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet over the 21st century. We classify patterns of seasonal dynamic thickness changes of outlet glaciers using new observations from the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). Our results reveal seven distinct patterns that differ across glaciers even within the same region. Future work can use our results to improve our understanding of processes that drive seasonal ice sheet changes.

We use repeat airborne geophysical data consisting of laser altimetry, snow, and Ku-band radar and optical imagery to analyze the spatial and temporal variability in surface roughness, slope, wind deposition, and snow accumulation at 88° S. We find small–scale variability in snow accumulation based on the snow radar subsurface layering, indicating areas of strong wind redistribution are prevalent at 88° S. There is no slope–independent relationship between surface roughness and accumulation.