The Greenland Ice Sheet represents the second-largest contributor to global sea-level rise. We quantify atmosphere, ice and ocean-based processes related to the mass balance of glaciers in Northeast Greenland, focusing on Greenland’s largest floating ice tongue, the 79N Glacier. We find that together, the different in situ and remote sensing observations and model simulations to reveal a consistent picture of a coupled atmosphere-ice sheet-ocean system, that has entered a phase of major change.

Shrinkage of the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) leads to sea level rise. Satellite gravimetry measures AIS mass changes. We apply a new method that overcomes two limitations: low spatial resolution and large uncertainties due to the Earth's interior mass changes. To do so, we additionally include data from satellite altimetry and climate and firn modelling, which are evaluated in a globally consistent way with thoroughly characterized errors. The results are in better agreement with independent data.

Glacier calving front positions are important for understanding glacier dynamics and constrain ice modelling. We apply a deep learning framework on multispectral Landsat imagery to create a calving front record for 19 key outlet glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula. The resulting data product includes 2064 calving front locations from 2013 to 2023 and achieves sub-seasonal temporal resolution.

Polar research is an interdisciplinary and multi-faceted field of research. Its diversity ranges from history to geology and geophysics to social sciences and education. This article provides insights into the different areas of German polar research. This was made possible by a seminar series, POLARSTUNDE, established in the summer of 2020 and organized by the German Society of Polar Research and the German National Committee of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS Germany).

There are many approaches to better understanding Antarctic processes that generate very large data sets (Antarctic big data). For these large data sets there is a pressing need for improved data acquisition, curation, integration, service, and application to support fundamental scientific research, and this article describes and evaluates the current status of big data in various Antarctic scientific disciplines, identifies current gaps, and provides solutions to fill these gaps.