Grounding line retreat

Radar interferometry is a remote sensing technique that combines two or more radar images over the same area to detect changes occurring between acquisitions. Using this technique with data from the ERS satellites, scientists were able to map the retreat of the Pine Island Glacier’s grounding line – where the ice stream lifts up off the land and begin to float out over the ocean. From 1992 to 2011, the grounding line retreated on average by about 20 km, reaching 40 km in the central section.

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