Studies of Grounding Line Migration Over Rutofrd Ice Stream Using 3D Short Repeat-Time Series From Multi-Track InSAR Acquisitions.

Abstract:

It has long been known that basal mechanics of ice streams are sensitive to short- timescale hourly to seasonal forcings, such as water pressure fluctuations and tidal loading as well as long-timescale (yearly to decadal) thinning. Designing SAR short repeat time observations to cover nearly an entire test-site in Antarctica from ascending and descending orbital directions, using every available SAR satellite is fundamental for understanding a new class of phenomena, underlying the physics of glaciers and ice streams. Understanding grounding-line dynamics is necessary for predictions of long-term ice-sheet stability. However, despite growing observations of the tidal influence on grounding-line migration, this short-timescale migration is poorly understood, with most modeling attempts assuming beam theory to calculate displacements. Knowing the position of the grounding line with accuracy is important for the global mass balance of ice sheets or for quantitatively modeling the mechanical interaction between ice shelves and ice sheets. Here we present a general method for retrieving three dimensional displacement vector given a set of multiple tracks, multiple geometry SAR acquisitions. The algorithm extends the single line of sight mathematical framework to the four spatial and temporal dimensions including both range and azimuth measurements. We designed COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) observations of Rutford Ice Stream to cover nearly the grounding zone from ascending and descending orbital directions using every available CSK satellite This spatially comprehensive observational scheme allowed us to derive time series of the 3-dimensional surface displacement for the grounding zone, facilitating studies of ice stream mechanics and tidally induced grounding line migrations with unprecedented spatial extent and temporal resolution. Having a constellation with occasional 1- day repeat time and an average 4-days repeat time is beneficial when looking at displacements of more than a meter per day. We compared our results with GPS time series and optical offset maps showing the fundamental role of short repeat time-series to disentangle secular velocities from tidal effects deforming the ice stream periodically.