Airborne Radar Reveals Area‐Wide Decadal Increase of Surface Mass Balance on the Plateau in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Projections of Antarctica's sea‐level contribution depend on future changes in surface mass balance (SMB), yet it remains uncertain whether climate change has already impacted SMB on the East Antarctic Plateau, given diverging trends in prior studies. Using ∼3,000 km of airborne radar data from western Dronning Maud Land (DML), we reconstructed SMB over the past ∼800 years (1209–2024 C.E.) and found stable centennial averages before 1977, followed by a 21% increase in recent decades. This increase is spatially coherent despite strong small‐scale variability driven by topography and wind redistribution, which can bias upscaling of firn core records. Integrating radar and firn core data at ∼5 5 km 2 scales reduces this bias. Our results show an increase in SMB in western DML over the last five decades. If sustained, it could help mitigate sea‐level rise.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2025gl118985
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Awards: Collaborative Research: EAGER: A Dual-Band Radar for Measuring Internal Ice Deformation: a Multipass Ice-Penetrating Radar Experiment on Thwaites Glacier and the McMurdo Ice Shelf, STC: Center for OLDest Ice EXploration, DANGER DML Entschlüsselung der Entwicklung eines ostantarktischen Eisflusssystems während des letzten Glazialzyklus im westlichen Dronning Maud Land, BIGDATA: IA: Collaborative Research: Intelligent Solutions for Navigating Big Data from the Arctic and Antarctic, NSF-NERC: Melting at Thwaites Grounding Zone and its Control on Sea Level (THWAITES-MELT), Mildert Dronning Maud Land den Meeresspiegelanstieg im 21. Jahrhundert? Quantifizierung der anthropogen bedingten Veränderung der Schneeakkumulation in der Ostantarktis
OpenAlex ID: W7154596264