Annual Elevation Change Analysis of Amery Ice Shelf and its Surroundings

Abstract:

Elevation change analysis was conducted on the ICESat (Ice, cloud, and land elevation satellite) altimetry data collected around the Amery ice shelf (AIS) from 2003 to 2009 with a repeat-track method. The average cross-track separation between the repeat-tracks at AIS was 100m, and the general slope was 0.3%. An existing digital elevation model was used to correct for effects caused by the surface slope across the repeat-track pairs. The average elevation changes were achieved in the entire study area and also within several layers of elevations in the study area. The results show that coastal areas with lower elevations tended to have significant elevation changes, varying from -40 cm to +40 cm, while interior areas with higher elevations tended to change at a low level in the range of ±10 cm.