Article (Scientific journals)
Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from the 1970s to 2023.
Otosaka, Inès N; Shepherd, Andrew; Amory, Charles et al.
2026 • In Scientific Data, 13 (1)
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Abstract :
[en] The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are major drivers of global mean sea level rise and are predicted to continue to do so in the future. However, they also represent the largest source of uncertainty in projections of future sea level rise making robust estimates of observed ice sheet mass changes critical. Here, we compare and combine 42 independent estimates of ice sheet mass balance derived from satellite observations of temporal changes in ice sheet flow, volume, and gravitational attraction to determine the ice sheet mass balance from 1972 (Greenland) and 1979 (Antarctica) until 2023. We then use regional climate models to partition the total mass balance into contributions associated with surface mass balance and ice dynamical imbalance. The ice sheets lost 11,309 ± 565 billion tonnes of ice between 1979 and 2023, with glacier dynamical imbalance driving 84% of the ice loss and surface mass balance the remainder. This dataset can be used to track the contribution of the ice sheets to sea level rise and constrain projections of future sea level rise.
Research Center/Unit :
SPHERES - ULiège
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Otosaka, Inès N;  Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. ines.otosaka@northumbria.ac.uk
Shepherd, Andrew;  Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Amory, Charles;  Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement, University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble, France
Horwath, Martin;  Institute of Planetary Geodesy, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
Ivins, Erik R;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
King, Michalea D;  Polar Science Center, University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA
Nowicki, Sophie;  Department of Geology and RENEW Institute, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, USA
Payne, Anthony J;  Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Rignot, Eric;  Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, USA
Sørensen, Louise Sandberg;  DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark
Schlegel, Nicole-Jeanne;  NOAA/OAR, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, USA
Simon, Karen M;  Canadian Geodetic Survey, Ottawa, Canada
Smith, Benjamin E;  Polar Science Center, University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA
Sutterley, Tyler C;  Polar Science Center, University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA
van den Broeke, Michiel R;  Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Velicogna, Isabella;  Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, USA
A, Geruo;  Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, USA
Agosta, Cécile;  Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE-IPSL, CEA, CNRS, UVSQ, UMR8212, Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Ditmar, Pavel;  Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Döhne, Thorben;  Institute of Planetary Geodesy, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
Engdahl, Marcus E;  Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department, European Space Agency, Frascati, Italy
Fettweis, Xavier  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Sphères
Forsberg, Rene;  DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark
Gardner, Alex S;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Gilbert, Linda;  MSSL, University College London, London, UK
Goelzer, Heiko;  NORCE Research, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Gourmelen, Noel;  School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Groh, Andreas;  Institute of Planetary Geodesy, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
Hansen, Nicolaj;  National Centre for Climate Research, Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
Harig, Christopher;  Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
Helm, Veit;  Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
Khan, Shfaqat Abbas;  DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark
Kittel, Christoph  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie ; Physical Geography Research Group, Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
Langen, Peter L;  Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
Larsen, Mathias;  Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
Loomis, Bryant D;  Geodesy and Geophysics Laboratory, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, USA
McMillan, Malcolm;  UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
Medley, Brooke;  Earth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, USA
Melini, Daniele;  Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Roma, Italy
Mottram, Ruth H;  National Centre for Climate Research, Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
Muir, Alan;  Space and Climate Physics, University College London, London, UK
Nilsson, Johan;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA ; Department of Earth Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Noël, Brice  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Sphères
Pattle, Mark E;  isardSAT, Guildford, UK
Roca I Aparici, Mònica;  isardSAT, Barcelona, Catalonia
Sasgen, Ingo;  Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany ; Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
Save, Himanshu V;  Center for Space Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
Scheuchl, Bernd;  Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, USA
Schrama, Ernst J O;  Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Schröder, Ludwig;  Institute of Planetary Geodesy, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
Seo, Ki-Weon;  Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Simonsen, Sebastian B;  DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark
Slater, Thomas;  Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Spada, Giorgio;  Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "Augusto Righi", Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Vishwakarma, Bramha Dutt;  Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India ; Centre for Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
Wever, Nander;  WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland
Wiese, David N;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Wouters, Bert;  Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
More authors (48 more) Less
Language :
English
Title :
Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from the 1970s to 2023.
Publication date :
16 September 2026
Journal title :
Scientific Data
eISSN :
2052-4463
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume :
13
Issue :
1
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Tags :
CÉCI : Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Intensif
Tier-1 supercomputer
Funders :
NERC - Natural Environment Research Council
ESA - European Space Agency
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NESSC - Netherlands Earth System Science Centre
DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
Norges Forskningsråd
HGF - Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
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