The ice sheet that covers the land in Greenland is rapidly thinning due to global warming, resulting in rising sea levels and abnormal climate conditions worldwide. These changes in the Arctic region have significant impacts on ecosystems and human society, making precise observation and research essential.
An international research team, including researchers from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom, has published a study measuring the changes in the thickness of the Greenland ice sheet by combining satellite data from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The results were published on the 20th in the international journal "Geophysical Research Letters."
The analysis of satellite data revealed that from 2010 to 2023, the average thickness of the Greenland ice sheet decreased by approximately 1.2 meters. At the edges of the Greenland ice sheet, the thickness decreased by an average of 6.4 meters, with a maximum reduction of 75 meters. The volume of ice lost during this period amounted to about 2,347 cubic kilometers, enough to fill Lake Victoria in Africa.
Notably, in 2012 and 2019, extreme high-temperature events in summer led to annual losses exceeding 400 cubic kilometers. The researchers warned that "the loss of the ice sheet has widespread impacts on global ocean circulation and climate systems."
The research team utilized the observational data of the Greenland ice sheet from ESA's CryoSat-2 satellite and NASA's ICESat-2 satellite. Each satellite measures the height of the ice sheet surface using radar and laser technology, respectively. However, while radar signals can penetrate the ice sheet surface and require separate correction processes, laser signals reflect from the actual ice sheet surface but cannot function in cloudy environments.
Combining data from the two satellites provided more precise results by compensating for each other's limitations. The researchers confirmed that the measurements from both satellites agreed within a margin of error of 3%. This means that the combined data could provide more reliable information than each satellite alone.
This study is significant as it strengthens the scientific basis for responding to rising sea levels and climate change. Nitin Ravinder, a researcher from the Center for Polar Observation and Modeling (CPOM) at Northumbria University, noted that "we were able to estimate changes in volume and mass of the ice sheet more accurately by combining data from the two satellites," adding that it is "a very useful tool for scientists and policymakers."
Reference materials
Geophysical Research Letters (2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110822