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ISMASS (ice sheets)

The Expert Group on Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS) aims to promote research on the estimation of the mass balance of ice sheets and their contribution to sea level, to facilitate the coordination among different international efforts focused on this field of research, to propose directions for future research, to integrate observations and modelling efforts, and promote distribution and archiving of the corresponding data, to attract a new generation of scientists into this field of research, to contribute to the diffusion of the current scientific knowledge and the main achievements to society and policymakers.

About

The Expert Group on Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS) is co-sponsored by SCAR, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), and the WCRP Climate and Cryosphere Project. ISMASS was established in 1993 as a SCAR-tasked group on Antarctic mass balance and sea-level contribution, which has since become bipolar. ISMASS is international and interdisciplinary across the spectrum of relevant ice-sheet mass balance disciplines and is a self-governing expert group.

Current ISMASS chair: Heiko Goelzer

Organizational contacts are: Frank Pattyn (SCAR), Shawn Marshall (IASC), and Edward Hanna (CliC)

The Importance of Estimating Ice Sheet Mass Balance

The mass balance of an ice sheet is the net balance between the mass gained by snow deposition, and the loss of mass by melting (either at the glacier surface or under the floating ice shelves or ice tongues) and calving (production of icebergs). A negative mass balance means that the ice sheet is losing mass, and, for grounded portions of ice sheets, most of this mass loss directly contributes to sea level rise. The melting of floating ice shelves and ice tongues does not contribute much directly to sea level rise but may influence the dynamic response of the connected ice sheet inland. This is one of the reasons why it is important, under a warming climate, to have accurate estimates of the mass balance of ice sheets.

How is the mass balance estimated?

Past mass balance rates can be estimated from ice core data, although the proper dating of the samples is challenging. For the deeper parts of the ice core (representing older data), the dating requires modelling the ice sheet dynamics.

For the large ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, the estimation of present mass balance is possible using remote sensing (satellite or airborne) techniques, though these need to be calibrated and validated against measurements done on the ice sheet surface.

For predicting future mass balance, under different scenarios of climate change, it is necessary to use models of the dynamics and thermal regime of ice sheets. These models have to be integrated with climate models that provide the information on accumulation and melting at the glacier surface and the interaction between the ice sheets and the ocean.

For further details visit the ISMASS website.

Terms of Reference

ISMASS was established in 1993 as a SCAR-tasked group on Antarctic mass balance and sea-level contribution, which has since become bipolar. ISMASS is international and interdisciplinary across the spectrum of relevant ice-sheet mass balance disciplines, and is a self-governing expert group sponsored by SCAR, IASC and CliC. ISMASS aims to:

Assess the status of research on interactions between ice sheets and the climate and Earth systems, and identify gaps in current understanding requiring process studies, sustained and targeted campaign-based observations and model development and experiments.
Serve SCAR, IASC, CliC, research sponsors and other organizations as a source of knowledge on ice-sheet mass balance and propose directions for future research in this area.
Facilitate and serve as a forum for the evaluation and promotion of scientific understanding of ice-sheet system models for both Antarctica and Greenland, in particular with respect to their contributions to global sea-level rise, and to make such information readily available to scientists, policymakers, and the wider public.
Keep track of the status of ice-sheet research carried out and sponsored by scientific organizations such as WGMS, GLIMS, IACS and IGS, and liaise with them to ensure that respective activities contribute as much as possible to the objectives of SCAR, IASC and CliC.
Promote collaboration between all disciplines (e.g. atmospheric, oceanographic, cryospheric, biogeochemical, solid earth and palaeoclimate sciences) that have an interest in interactions between ice sheets and climate, and on rapid response to modern ocean and atmosphere forcings.
Work in concert with relevant SCAR, IASC and CliC panels and other groups to integrate ice-sheet observations and modelling into corresponding global and regional activities, and ensure that our collective objectives are met and resources used most efficiently.
Work with appropriate agencies on the distribution and archiving of ice-sheet observations and model output.
Attract a new generation of scientists, via interaction with groups such as APECS, into the field of ice-sheet mass balance research.

News

View in all ISMASS

News and Updates from the ISMASS Community.

Members

Contact

The contacts for the SCAR/IASC/CliC ISMASS group are: Heiko Goelzer (Chair); Frank Pattyn (SCAR liaison); Shawn Marshall (IASC liaison); and Edward Hanna (CliC liaison).

Membership

The ISMASS Steering Committee

Florence Colleoni (representing INSTANT)
Dan Dixon
Xavier Fettweis
Heiko Goelzer (Chair)
Edward Hanna (representing CliC)
David M. Holland
Shawn Marshall (representing IASC)
Frank Pattyn (representing SCAR)
Catherine Ritz
Andrew Shepherd

Resources

Publications, Data and Links of interest to the Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level community

Reports

Toggle	Title	Date
	pdf ISMASS Expert Group Report 2022 ( pdf, 223 KB )	11 Jan 2023
	pdf ISMASS Expert Group Report 2020 ( pdf, 143 KB )	15 Apr 2021
	pdf ISMASS Expert Group Report 2019 ( pdf, 93 KB )	16 Sep 2019
	pdf SCAR EXCOM 2019 Paper 14: Report from Physical Sciences Group ( pdf, 106 KB )	05 Sep 2019
	pdf SCAR XXXV Paper 17: Physical Sciences Group (PSG) Report ( pdf, 755 KB )	20 Sep 2018
	pdf SCAR XXXV Paper 26: The Future of Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS) ( pdf, 132 KB )	20 Sep 2018
	pdf SCAR EXCOM 2017 Paper 4: Report of Physical Sciences Group AND Physical Sciences Group Reports ( pdf, 964 KB )	02 Aug 2017
	pdf SCAR XXXIV WP06b: Physical Sciences Action and Expert Group Reports ( pdf, 1.77 MB )	30 Aug 2016
	pdf SCAR EXCOM 2013 WP16: Report on ISMASS (Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level) ( pdf, 349 KB )	23 Jul 2013
	pdf SCAR XXXII IP08: The Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS) Group ( pdf, 356 KB )	25 Jul 2012
	pdf SCAR XXXI IP27: Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS): A Science Plan ( pdf, 538 KB )	11 Aug 2010
	pdf SCAR Report 38 - 2010 July - Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level: A Science Plan ( pdf, 498 KB )	01 Jul 2010

Publications

Note that ISMASS facilitates science and is not a science actor or science programme. As such, peer-reviewed publications are not its main focus. However, ISMASS did publish the following review articles:

Hanna, E., Topál, D., Box, J. E., Buzzard, S., Christie, F. D. W., Hvidberg, C., Morlighem, M., De Santis, L., Silvano, A., Colleoni, F., Sasgen, I., Banwell, A. F., van den Broeke, M. R., DeConto, R., De Rydt, J., Goelzer, H., Gossart, A., Gudmundsson, G. H., Lindbäck, K., Miles, B., Mottram, R., Pattyn, F., Reese, R., Rignot, E., Srivastava, A., Sun, S., Toller, J., Tuckett, P. A., and Ultee, L.: Short- and long-term variability of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, Nat Rev Earth Environ, 5, 193–210, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00509-7, 2024.

Hanna, E., Pattyn, F., Navarro, F., Favier, V., Goelzer, H., van den Broeke, M., Vizcaino, M., Whitehouse, P., Ritz, C., Bulthuis, K., and Smith, B.: Mass balance of the ice sheets and glaciers – progress since AR5 and challenges, Earth-Science Reviews, 201, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102976, 2020.

Pattyn, F., Ritz, C., Hanna, E., Asay-Davis, X., DeConto, R., Durand, G., Favier, L., Fettweis, X., Goelzer, H., Golledge, N. R., Kuipers Munneke, P., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Nowicki, S., Payne, A. J., Robinson, A., Seroussi, H., Trusel, L. D., and van den Broeke, M.: The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets under 1.5 °C global warming, Nature Clim Change, 8, 1053–1061, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0305-8, 2018.

Hanna, E., Navarro, F. J., Pattyn, F., Domingues, C. M., Fettweis, X., Ivins, E. R., Nicholls, R. J., Ritz, C., Smith, B., and Tulaczyk, S.: Ice-sheet mass balance and climate change, Nature, 498, 51–59, 2013.

Given the support that ISMASS has given and continues to give for ice sheet model intercomparison efforts, the following papers are worthwhile to mention:

Sun, S., Pattyn, F., Simon, E. G., Albrecht, T., Cornford, S., Calov, R., Dumas, C., Gillet-Chaulet, F., Goelzer, H., Golledge, N. R., Greve, R., Hoffman, M. J., Humbert, A., Kazmierczak, E., Kleiner, T., Leguy, G. R., Lipscomb, W. H., Martin, D., Morlighem, M., Nowicki, S., Pollard, D., Price, S., Quiquet, A., Seroussi, H., Schlemm, T., Sutter, J., van de Wal, R. S. W., Winkelmann, R., and Zhang, T.: Antarctic ice sheet response to sudden and sustained ice-shelf collapse (ABUMIP), Journal of Glaciology, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.67, 2020.

Seroussi, H., Nowicki, S., Payne, A. J., Goelzer, H., Lipscomb, W. H., Abe-Ouchi, A., Agosta, C. C., Albrecht, T., Asay-Davis, X., Barthel, A., Calov, R., Cullather, R., Dumas, C., Galton-Fenzi, B. K., Gladstone, R., Golledge, N. R., Gregory, J. M., Greve, R., Hattermann, T., Hoffman, M. J., Humbert, A., Huybrechts, P., Jourdain, N. C., Kleiner, T., Larour, E., Leguy, G. R., Lowry, D. P., Little, C. M., Morlighem, M., Pattyn, F., Pelle, T., Price, S. S. F., Quiquet, A. A., Reese, R., Schlegel, N.-J., Shepherd, A., Simon, E., Smith, R. S., Straneo, F., Sun, S., Trusel, L. D., Van Breedam, J., van de Wal, R. S. W., Winkelmann, R., Zhao, C., Zhang, T., Zwinger, T., Ouchi, A. A., Agosta, C. C., Albrecht, T., Asay-Davis, X., Barthel, A., Calov, R., Cullather, R., Dumas, C., Gladstone, R., Goelzer, H., Golledge, N. R., Gregory, J. M., Greve, R., Hattermann, T., Hoffman, M. J., Huybrechts, P., Jourdain, N. C., Kleiner, T., Larour, E., Leguy, G. R., Lipscomb, W. H., Lowry, D. P., Little, C. M., Mengel, M., Morlighem, M., Pattyn, F., Payne, A. J., Pelle, T., Price, S. S. F., Quiquet, A. A., Reese, R., Schlegel, N.-J., Shepherd, A., Simon, E., Smith, R. S., Straneo, F., Sun, S., Trusel, L. D., Breedam, J. V., Wal, R. S. W. van de, Winkelmann, R., Zhao, C., Zhang, T., Goelzer, H., Lipscomb, W. H., Abe-Ouchi, A., Agosta, C. C., Albrecht, T., Asay-Davis, X., Barthel, A., Calov, R., Cullather, R., et al.: ISMIP6 Antarctica: a multi-model ensemble of the Antarctic ice sheet evolution over the 21st century, The Cryosphere, 14, 3033–3070, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3033-2020, 2020.

Goelzer, H., Nowicki, S., Payne, A., Larour, E., Seroussi, H., Lipscomb, W. H., Gregory, J., Abe-Ouchi, A., Shepherd, A., Simon, E., Agosta, C., Alexander, P., Aschwanden, A., Barthel, A., Calov, R., Chambers, C., Choi, Y., Cuzzone, J., Dumas, C., Edwards, T., Felikson, D., Fettweis, X., Golledge, N. R., Greve, R., Humbert, A., Huybrechts, P., Le clec’h, S., Lee, V., Leguy, G., Little, C., Lowry, D. P., Morlighem, M., Nias, I., Quiquet, A., Rückamp, M., Schlegel, N.-J., Slater, D. A., Smith, R. S., Straneo, F., Tarasov, L., van de Wal, R., and van den Broeke, M.: The future sea-level contribution of the Greenland ice sheet: a multi-model ensemble study of ISMIP6, The Cryosphere, 14, 3071–3096, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3071-2020, 2020.

Goelzer, H., Nowicki, S., Edwards, T., Beckley, M., Abe-Ouchi, A., Aschwanden, A., Calov, R., Gagliardini, O., Gillet-Chaulet, F., Golledge, N. R., Gregory, J., Greve, R., Humbert, A., Huybrechts, P., Kennedy, J. H., Larour, E., Lipscomb, W. H., Le clec’h, S., Lee, V., Morlighem, M., Pattyn, F., Payne, A. J., Rodehacke, C., Rückamp, M., Saito, F., Schlegel, N., Seroussi, H., Shepherd, A., Sun, S., van de Wal, R., and Ziemen, F. A.: Design and results of the ice sheet model initialisation experiments initMIP-Greenland: an ISMIP6 intercomparison, The Cryosphere, 12, 1433–1460, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1433-2018, 2018.

Asay-Davis, X. S., Cornford, S. L., Durand, G., Galton-Fenzi, B. K., Gladstone, R. M., Hilmar Gudmundsson, G., Hattermann, T., Holland, D. M. D., Holland, D. M. D., Holland, P. R., Martin, D. F., Mathiot, P., Pattyn, F., Seroussi, H., Gudmundsson, G. H., Holland, D. M. D., Holland, P. R., and Martin, D. F.: Experimental design for three interrelated marine ice sheet and ocean model intercomparison projects: MISMIP v. 3 (MISMIP +), ISOMIP v. 2 (ISOMIP +) and MISOMIP v. 1 (MISOMIP1), Geoscientific Model Development, 9, 2471–2497, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-2471-2016, 2016.

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