ICECAP-2 consortium bed elevation model for Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica

Abstract

We present a new topographic digital elevation model (DEM) for Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) – the last remaining region in Antarctica to be surveyed. The DEM covers an area of 899,730 km2 and was established from new aero geophysical data collected by the ICECAP-2 consortium, led by the Polar Research Institute of China, from four different surveys since 2015. Two products are available; (1) 500 m bed elevation model; and (2) 500 m ice thickness model. The mass conservation (MC) method is used to infer ice thickness DEM across faster-flowing (>30 m yr-1) regions of the ice sheet, and streamline diffusion at slower-flowing areas. The ice thickness DEM is then integrated with the ice surface DEM from the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (Howat, et al., 2019) to generate the bed elevation model. Together with BedMachine Antarctica, and Bedmap2, this new bed DEM for PEL completes the first-order measurement of subglacial Antarctica – an international mission that began 70 years ago.

We present a new topographic digital elevation model (DEM) for Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) – the last remaining region in Antarctica to be surveyed. The DEM covers an area of 899,730 km2 and was established from new aero geophysical data collected by the ICECAP-2 consortium, led by the Polar Research Institute of China, from four different surveys since 2015. Two products are available; (1) 500 m bed elevation model; and (2) 500 m ice thickness model. The mass conservation (MC) method is used to infer ice thickness DEM across faster-flowing (>30 m yr-1) regions of the ice sheet, and streamline diffusion at slower-flowing areas. The ice thickness DEM is then integrated with the ice surface DEM from the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (Howat, et al., 2019) to generate the bed elevation model. Together with BedMachine Antarctica, and Bedmap2, this new bed DEM for PEL completes the first-order measurement of subglacial Antarctica – an international mission that began 70 years ago.