Gridded surface elevation changes from multi-mission satellite altimetry 1978-2017

Here we provide a 10x10km grid of monthly surface elevation changes (SEC) of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from our multi-mission satellite altimetry combination. Covering the period 1978-2017, the contributing satellite missions (Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat, ICESat and CryoSat-2) provided measurements up to their specific maximum latitude (from 72°S for Seasat and Geosat up to 88°S for CryoSat-2). After a consistent reprocessing and a stepwise calibration of the inter-mission offsets, we obtain monthly grids of multi-mission SEC with respect to the reference epoch 09/2010. Validation results are presented in the related publication and prove that the different missions and observation modes have been successfully combined to a seamless multi-mission time series. For coastal East Antarctica, even Seasat and Geosat provide reliable information and, hence, allow to analyze four decades of elevation changes. The uncertainty estimates, provided for each data point, comprise the altimeter measurement noise, the uncertainty due to the generation of the time series, the error estimate of the inter-mission offsets and the variation in the final gridding procedure. These uncertainty estimates range from about a decimeter at the plateau up to more than a meter in coastal areas and also contain a temporal component, causing the larger uncertainties with increasing temporal distance to our reference period (09/2010).