Improving Greenland Bed Topography Mapping with Uncertainty-Aware Graph Learning on Sparse Radar Data
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Accurate maps of Greenland's subglacial bed are essential for sea-level projections, but radar observations are sparse and uneven. We introduce GraphTopoNet, a graph-learning framework that fuses heterogeneous supervision and explicitly models uncertainty via Monte Carlo dropout. Spatial graphs built from surface observables (elevation, velocity, mass balance) are augmented with gradient features and polynomial trends to capture both local variability and broad structure. To handle data gaps, we employ a hybrid loss that combines confidence-weighted radar supervision with dynamically balanced regularization. Applied to three Greenland subregions, GraphTopoNet outperforms interpolation, convolutional, and graph-based baselines, reducing error by up to 60 percent while preserving fine-scale glacial features. The resulting bed maps improve reliability for operational modeling, supporting agencies engaged in climate forecasting and policy. More broadly, GraphTopoNet shows how graph machine learning can convert sparse, uncertain geophysical observations into actionable knowledge at continental scale.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4417070754
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