Recovery of mass changes in antarctic ice-sheet based on the regional climate model, RACMO

Mass change in the Antarctic Ice Sheet(AIS) is the most important indicator of changes in Earth's climate system including global mean sea level rise that are largely affected by ongoing global warming. In this study, AIS mass variations are examined with satellite gravity data and outputs from a regional climate model. The analysis of gravity data shows that along the coastal region the Western AIS has experienced a continuous and significant ice loss while a slight increasing in the Eastern AIS during the study period (2002.08-2016.08). The temporal and spatial variations in ice mass changes are recovered by a regional climate model, but the recovered amplitudes are much smaller than those of observations. This under-estimation is remarkably resolved by modifying a base flow field for the ice discharge. The recovered estimates based on the ice-flow field can explain about 97% of the rate of mass change in observations before 2009. This implies that changes in ice flow dynamics along the coast line plays a pivotal role in regulating long-term budget of ice mass in AIS.