An improved elevation dataset for climate and ice-sheet modelling: validation with satellite imagery

Recent studies by several groups have indicated that the performance of general circulation models (GCMs) over the ice sheets is severely limited by the relatively low resolution of the models at the margins, where surface slopes are greatest. To provide accurate energy-budget estimates, resolutions of better than 0.5 degrees are desirable, requiring nested or multiple gridding and accurate, high-resolution boundary conditions. Here we present a new, high-resolution (5 km) digital elevation model for the Antarctic ice sheet, derived from radar-altimeter data obtained from the geodetic phase of the satellite, ERS-1. These data have been combined with the revised ice-thickness grid reported in Bamber and Huybrechts (1996) to produce a bed-and surface-elevation dataset for use in regional and global climate and paleo-climate modelling applications. The real level of spatial detail in the datasets has been examined with the aid of Landsat Thematic Mapper data. Imagery around Ice Stream D, West Antarctica, shows that the revised ice-thickness grid is accurately geolocated, and contains valuable fine-scale topographic detail beyond that available from the cartographic version of the data (Drewry, 1983). The surface topography in the region of the Ross Ice Shelf has been used to illustrate the level of detail in both the vertical and horizontal resolution of the surface dataset. Landsat data has also been used to examine features in the surface-elevation data. In particular, the location of the grounding zone, for Ice Streams D and E, derived from the two data sources shows good agreement. The results of this validation underscore the utility of the new datasets for high-resolution modelling, and highlight the limitations of the Folio maps for such applications.