A novel approach to exploit elastic deformation to constrain regional ice mass change in Antarctica

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that elastic deformation observed in the ANET GNSS network can be used to constrain regional ice mass changes in Antarctica, especially with dense GNSS clusters, by modeling and localizing mass loss effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Load Sensitivity Kernel (LSK) model to relate GNSS elastic deformation data to regional ice mass change, enabling localization of near-field mass loss effects.

Findings

Most deformation is dominated by far-field mass change.

Over 70% of sites need a radius of 200km or more for 90% deformation recovery.

7 GNSS sites can isolate deformation from specific ice mass loss regions.

Abstract

Across the ANET GNSS network, decadal mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet drives elastic uplift rates of up to 20 mm/yr. We explore, for the first time, the viability of using elastic deformation observed in the ANET GNSS network to constrain ice mass changes in Antarctica. We begin by estimating which regions of ice mass loss contribute to the elastic deformation observed at each ANET GNSS site. This is done using an observer-centric model of elastic deformation, which we call a Load Sensitivity Kernel (LSK). Using this approach, we find that the elastic deformation at the majority of ANET sites is dominated by far-field mass change. Over 70% of ANET sites require ice mass change within a radius of 200km or greater to be included before 90% of the site's elastic deformation is recovered. We show that the difference between LSKs of a pair of neighboring GNSS receivers can be used to localize the near-field mass change responsible for the differential displacement. Finally, we generalize this in a novel approach that uses an arbitrary number of GNSS sites. In this approach, LSKs of each site are weighted and added in a linear series. These weights are optimized such that the elastic deformation from mass change outside a Region of Interest is minimized. We demonstrate that 7 ANET GNSS sites in the Amundsen Sea region can isolate the elastic deformation, in both the vertical and horizontal components, that results exclusively from PIG's mass loss and/or the losses of the PSK glaciers. With the current GNSS receiver distribution, the east component of elastic deformation due to mass change at Thwaites can be expressed relative to mass changes at PSK. Our results demonstrate that the current ANET configuration can use elastic deformation to constrain ice mass changes in Antarctica, especially in regions with relatively dense clusters of GNSS.