Abstract
Totten and Moscow University glaciers, in the marine‐based sector of East Antarctica,
contain enough ice to raise sea level by 5 m. Obtaining precise measurements of their mass balance
is challenging owing to large area of the basins and the small mass balance signal compared to
West Antarctic glaciers. Here we employ a locally optimized processing of Gravity Recovery and
Climate Experiment (GRACE) harmonics to evaluate their mass balance at the sub‐basin scale and
compare the results with mass budget method (MBM) estimates using Regional Atmospheric Climate
Model version 2.3 (RACMO2.3) or Modèle Atmosphérique Régional version 3.6.4 (MAR3.6.4). The sub‐basin
mass loss estimate for April 2002 to November 2015 is 14.8 ± 4.3 Gt/yr, which is weakly affected by
glacial isostatic adjustment uncertainties (±1.4 Gt/yr). This result agrees with MBM/RACMO2.3
(15.8 ± 2.0 Gt/yr), whereas MBM/MAR3.6.4 underestimates the loss (6.6 ± 1.6 Gt/yr). For the entire
drainage, the mass loss for April 2002 to August 2016 is 18.5 ± 6.6 Gt/yr, or 15 ± 4% of its ice flux.
These results provide unequivocal evidence for mass loss in this East Antarctic sector.
Original Manuscript on Geophysical Research Letters: here
Funding
This work was performed at the UCI and JPL-Caltech. It was supported by the NASA's GRACE and GRACE-FO, Cryosphere,
Terrestrial Hydrology, and NSLC Programs.
Please Cite the paper below when using the provided dataset
Citation:
Mohajerani, Y., Velicogna, I., and Rignot, E. (2018). Mass loss of Totten and Moscow University glaciers,
East Antarctica, using regionally optimized GRACE mascons. Geophysical Research Letters, 45. doi:10.1029/2018GL078173
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