Warming and Melting Mass loss from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica account for a large fraction of global sea-level rise. Part of this loss is because of the effects of warmer air temperatures, and another because of the rising ocean temperatures to which they are being exposed. Joughin et al. (p. 1172 ) review how ocean-ice interactions are impacting ice sheets and discuss the possible ways that exposure of floating ice shelves and grounded ice margins are subject to the influences of warming ocean currents. Estimates of the mass balance of the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have differed greatly—in some cases, not even agreeing about whether there is a net loss or a net gain—making it more difficult to project accurately future sea-level change. Shepherd et al. (p. 1183 ) combined data sets produced by satellite altimetry, interferometry, and gravimetry to construct a more robust ice-sheet mass balance for the period between 1992 and 2011. All major regions of the two ice sheets appear to be losing mass, except for East Antarctica. All told, mass loss from the polar ice sheets is contributing about 0.6 millimeters per year (roughly 20% of the total) to the current rate of global sea-level rise.

[1] We present our best estimate of the thickness and volume of the Arctic Ocean ice cover from 10 Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) campaigns that span a 5-year period between 2003 and 2008. Derived ice drafts are consistently within 0.5 m of those from a submarine cruise in mid-November of 2005 and 4 years of ice draft profiles from moorings in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Along with a more than 42% decrease in multiyear (MY) ice coverage since 2005, there was a remarkable thinning of $0.6 m in MY ice thickness over 4 years. In contrast, the average thickness of the seasonal ice in midwinter ($2 m), which covered more than two-thirds of the Arctic Ocean in 2007, exhibited a negligible trend. Average winter sea ice volume over the period, weighted by a loss of $3000 km 3 between 2007 and 2008, was $14,000 km 3 . The total MY ice volume in the winter has experienced a net loss of 6300 km 3 (>40%) in the 4 years since 2005, while the first-year ice cover gained volume owing to increased overall area coverage. The overall decline in volume and thickness are explained almost entirely by changes in the MY ice cover. Combined with a large decline in MY ice coverage over this short record, there is a reversal in the volumetric and areal contributions of the two ice types to the total volume and area of the Arctic Ocean ice cover. Seasonal ice, having surpassed that of MY ice in winter area coverage and volume, became the dominant ice type. It seems that the near-zero replenishment of the MY ice cover after the summers of 2005 and 2007, an imbalance in the cycle of replenishment and ice export, has played a significant role in the loss of Arctic sea ice volume over the ICESat record.

[1] Satellite-derived estimates of sea-ice age and thickness are combined to produce a proxy ice thickness record for 1982 to the present. These data show that in addition to the well-documented loss of perennial ice cover as a whole, the amount of oldest and thickest ice within the remaining multiyear ice pack has declined significantly. The oldest ice types have essentially disappeared, and 58% of the multiyear ice now consists of relatively young 2-and 3-year-old ice compared to 35% in the mid-1980s. Ice coverage in summer 2007 reached a record minimum, with ice extent declining by 42% compared to conditions in the 1980s. The much-reduced extent of the oldest and thickest ice, in combination with other factors such as ice transport that assist the ice-albedo feedback by exposing more open water, help explain this large and abrupt ice loss.

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[1] Sea ice freeboard heights in the Weddell Sea of Antarctica are derived from the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimeter measurements, which have a unique range precision to flat surfaces of 2 cm within 70 m footprints spaced at 172 m along track. Although elevations of flat surfaces can be obtained to an accuracy of $10 cm (1s) per footprint, direct determination of freeboard heights is precluded by errors in knowledge of the geoid and temporal variability of the ocean surface.

During 2003 to 2008, the mass gain of the Antarctic ice sheet from snow accumulation exceeded the mass loss from ice discharge by 49 Gtlyr (2.5% of input), as derived from ICESat laser measurements of elevation change. The net gain (86 Gtlyr) over the West Antarctic (WA) and East Antarctic ice sheets (W A and EA) is essentially unchanged from revised results for 1992 to 2001 from ERS radar altimetry. Imbalances in individual drainage systems (DS) are large (-68% to +103% of input), as are temporal changes (-39% to +44%). The recent 90 Gtlyr loss from three DS (Pine Island, Thwaites-Smith, and Marie-Bryd Coast) of WA exceeds the earlier 61 Gtlyr loss, consistent with reports of accelerating ice flow and dynamic thinning. Similarly, the recent 24 Gtlyr loss from three DS in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is consistent with glacier accelerations following breakup of the Larsen B and other ice shelves. In contrast, net increases in the five other DS ofWA and AP and three of the 16 DS in East Antarctica (EA) exceed the increased losses. Alternate interpretations of the mass changes driven by accumulation variations are given using results from atmospheric-model re-analysis and a parameterization based on 5% change in accumulation per degree of observed surface temperature change. A slow increase in snowfall with climate wanning, consistent with model predictions, may be offsetting increased dynamic losses.

[1] The GLAS instrument on NASA's ICESat satellite has made over 904 million measurements of the Earth surface and atmosphere through June 2005. During its first seven operational campaigns it has vertically sampled the Earth's global surface and atmosphere on more than 3600 orbits with vertical resolutions approaching 3 cm. This paper summarizes the on-orbit measurement performance of GLAS to date. Instrument Description and Ground Testing[2] The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) is a new generation space lidar developed for the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission [Schutz et al., 2005]. The GLAS instrument combines a 3 cm precision 1064-nm laser altimeter with a laser pointing angle determination system and 1064 and 532-nm cloud and aerosol lidar [Zwally et al., 2002]. GLAS was developed by NASA-Goddard as a medium cost and medium risk instrument.[3] GLAS uses the 1064-nm laser pulses to measure the two way time of flight to the Earth's surface. The instrument time stamps each laser pulse emission, and measures its emission angle relative to inertial space, the transmitted pulse waveform and the echo pulse waveform from the surface. GLAS also measures atmospheric backscatter profiles. The 1064-nm pulses profile the backscatter from thicker clouds, while the 532-nm pulses use photon-counting detectors to measure the height distributions of optically thin clouds and aerosol layers [Abshire et al., 2003]. A GPS receiver on the spacecraft provides data for determining the spacecraft position, and provides an absolute time reference for the instrument measurements and the altimetry clock.[4] Before launch, GLAS measurement performance was evaluated with ''inverse lidar'' called the Bench Check Equipment (BCE). The BCE also monitored the transmitted laser energy and the other critical instrument measurements [Riris et al., 2003]. Before launch, the three GLAS lasers were qualified [Afzal et al., 2002] and fired a total of 427 million shots, or 11% of the planned orbital lifetime. This pre-launch testing also uncovered a few issues. The co-alignment of the laser beams to the receiver field of view was found to vary more than expected, with instrument temperature and orientation. Three of the eight 532-nm detectors failed during instrument vacuum testing. Laser 3 also showed an unexplained small drop in its 532 nm energy. Unfortunately, due to project deadlines, it was not possible to correct these issues before launch. Space Operation of Lasers and Laser Energy History[5] After the ICESat launch, GLAS Laser 1 started firing on February 20, 2003, and was operated continuously through the Laser 1 campaign. The GLAS 1064-nm measurements showed strong echo pulses from the surface and cloud tops and better than expected atmospheric profiles. Operation of the 532-nm detectors was delayed. Figure 1 shows the 1064 and 532-nm energy histories to date for all lasers, with Laser 1 shown in red. After day 10, Laser 1 showed unusual and faster than expected energy decline, and it failed on day 38. NAS...