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Ice Sheets from Space: Quantifying Melt Contributions to Sea Level Rise

Melting ice sheets and mountain glaciers are contributing significantly to global sea level rise. But how much are they contributing, how do we measure this, and do independent measurements agree? Advancements in Earth observation satellite technology over the past few decades have revolutionised our ability to monitor the state of Earth’s ice sheets and mountain glaciers. In this talk, I will compare the strengths and limitations of popular spaceborne methods for quantifying the contribution of ice sheet mass changes to sea level rise. Finally, I will explore the dynamics of why and how ice sheets are changing and what spaceborne measurements indicate about their future.

About the speaker

Dr. Rebecca McGirr

I am a geophysicist, with expertise in the analysis of space gravity data and modelling solid Earth and surface processes. I create models of the Earth's time-varying gravity field using space gravity data from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) missions to study changes in Earth's mass distribution due to various geophysical and climatological processes. I have a particular interest in using space gravity data to measure changes in the mass of polar ice caps and glaciers and to monitor water availability in Australia.

My research is supported by the Australian Research Council ‘GRACE Follow-On: Validation of measurements and initial results’ project, the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science and the Geoscience Australia ‘Processing and integration of new space gravity data (GRACE-FO) for groundwater storage changes in the Great Artesian Basin’ project. I am currently a member of the GRACE-FO space gravity Science Team.