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Recent observations of increased thinning of the Greenland ice sheet measured by aircraft laser altimetry and GPS
William B. Krabill, GSFC, Wallops Island, VA, VA
The Arctic Ice Mapping group (Project AIM) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility has been conducting systematic topographic surveys of representative portions of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) since 1993, using scanning airborne laser altimeters combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology onboard NASA’s P-3 aircraft. Flight lines have covered all major ice drainage basins, with repeating surveys after a 5-year interval. Analysis of this data documented significant thinning in many areas near the ice sheet margins and an overall negative mass balance of the GIS (Science, 2000). In 2001, 2002, and 2003 many of these flight lines were re-surveyed, providing evidence of continued or accelerated thinning in all observed areas around the margin of the GIS.
Session 1, emerging lidar methods in addressing atmospheric issues
Monday, 10 January 2005, 9:00 AM-11:15 AM
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