Mass Balance of the Cryosphere Observations and Modelling of Contemporary and Future Changes

The cryosphere comprises all the frozen water and soil on the surface of the Earth. Mass Balance of the Cryosphere focuses on two key components of this environment: land ice (in the form of ice sheets, caps and glaciers) and sea ice. These components have been identified as important indicators of both short and long term climate change. Early chapters cover the theory behind field-based and satellite observations, and modelling of mass balance, providing a thorough grounding in all the concepts and issues presented later in the book. Later chapters review our current understanding of the present and predicted future mass balance of the cryosphere. This is an important reference for all scientists working in the fields of climate change, environmental sciences and glaciology. It is written by leading authors in the field, and is fully integrated to provide a coherent, cross-referenced and consistent exposition on the subject.

1. Introduction and background Jonathan L. Bamber and Antony J. Payne; Part I. Observational Techniques and Methods: 2. In situ measurement techniques: land ice Jon Ove Hagen and Niels Reeh; 3. In situ measurement techniques: sea ice Peter Wadhams; 4. Remote sensing measurement techniques Jonathan L. Bamber and Ron Kwok; Part II. Modelling Techniques and Methods: 5. Modelling land ice surface mass balance Wouter Greuell and Christophe Genthon; 6. Modelling land ice dynamics Kees van der Veen and Anthony J. Payne; 7. Modelling sea ice dynamics William D. Hibler, III; Part III. The Mass Balance of Sea Ice: 8. Sea ice observations Seymour Laxon, Ola Johannessen, Martin Miles, Peter Wadhams and John E. Walsh; 9. Sea-ice modelling Gregory M. Flato; Part IV. The Mass Balance of the Ice Sheets: 10. Greenland: recent mass-balance observations Robert H. Thomas and the PARCA investigators; 11. Greenland: modelling Roderik van der Wal; 12. Mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet: observational aspects Charles Bentley; 13. Antarctica: modelling Philippe Huybrechts; Part V. The Mass Balance of Ice Caps and Glaciers: 14. Arctic ice caps and glaciers Julian Dowdeswell; 15. Glaciers and ice caps: historical background and strategies of worldwide monitoring Wilfried Haeberli; 16. Glaciers and the study of climate and sea-level change Mark Dyurgerov and Mark Meier; 17. Conclusions, summary and outlook Jonathan L. Bamber and Antony J. Payne.