ESA's Ice Sheets CCI: validation and inter-comparison of surface elevation changes derived from laser and radar altimetry over Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland – Round Robin results
In order to increase the understanding of the changing climate, the
European Space Agency has launched the Climate Change Initiative
(ESA CCI), a program which joins scientists and space agencies into
13 projects either affecting or affected by the concurrent
changes. This work is part of the Ice Sheets CCI and four parameters
are to be determined for the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), each
resulting in a dataset made available to the public: Surface
Elevation Changes (SEC), surface velocities, grounding line
locations, and calving front locations. All CCI projects have
completed a so-called Round Robin exercise in which the scientific
community was asked to provide their best estimate of the sought
parameters as well as a feedback sheet describing their work. By
inter-comparing and validating the results, obtained from research
institutions world-wide, it is possible to develop the most optimal
method for determining each parameter. This work describes the SEC
Round Robin and the subsequent conclusions leading to the creation
of a method for determining GrIS SEC values. The participants used
either Envisat radar or ICESat laser altimetry over Jakobshavn
Isbræ drainage basin, and the submissions led to inter-comparisons
of radar vs. altimetry as well as cross-over vs. repeat-track
analyses. Due to the high accuracy of the former and the high
spatial resolution of the latter, a method, which combines the two
techniques will provide the most accurate SEC estimates. The data
supporting the final GrIS analysis stem from the radar altimeters
on-board Envisat, ERS-1 and ERS-2. The accuracy of laser data
exceeds that of radar altimetry; the Round Robin analysis has,
however, proven the latter equally capable of dealing with surface
topography thereby making such data applicable in SEC analyses
extending all the way from the interior ice sheet to margin
regions. This shows good potential for a~future inclusion of ESA
CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3 radar data in the analysis, and thus for
obtaining reliable SEC estimates throughout the entire GrIS