Cryosphere and ice-sheet dynamics

Where an ice sheet loses contact with its bed, and how fast that boundary is moving.

The problem

The grounding line is the boundary where an ice sheet stops resting on bedrock and begins to float. It is not a line and it does not hold still: it migrates by kilometres over a single tidal cycle, and it retreats over years as warm ocean water reaches further beneath the ice. Its position sets how much ice is exposed to ocean melt, which is why models are so sensitive to it.

How we measure it

We map the grounding zone from short-repeat radar interferometry. One-day and four-day repeat passes from COSMO-SkyMed, TanDEM-X and Sentinel-1 resolve the tidal flexure hinge directly, so migration can be separated from long-term retreat rather than confounded with it.

What we have found

Papers on this theme 19

Showing the 12 most relevant of 19. See all 92 publications.

• On the Short-term Grounding Zone Dynamics of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, Observed With COSMO-SkyMed Interferometric Data

  P. Milillo, E. Rignot, J. Mouginot, B. Scheuchl et al.

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2017

  Cited by 49

• Melt rates in the kilometer-size grounding zone of Petermann Glacier, Greenland, before and during a retreat

  E. Ciracì, E. Rignot, B. Scheuchl, V. Tolpekin et al.

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023

  Cited by 41

• Ongoing grounding line retreat and fracturing initiated at the Petermann Glacier ice shelf, Greenland, after 2016

  R. Millan, J. Mouginot, A. Derkacheva, E. Rignot et al.

  Cryosphere · 2022

  Cited by 25

• Grounding Line Retreat of Denman Glacier, East Antarctica, Measured With COSMO-SkyMed Radar Interferometry Data

  V. Brancato, E. Rignot, P. Milillo, M. Morlighem et al.

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2020

  Cited by 54

• Antarctic ICE sheet grounding line migration monitoring using COSMO-SkyMed very short repeat-time SAR interferometry

  P. Milillo, E. Rignot, J. Mouginot, B. Scheuchl et al.

  International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) · 2017

• Heterogeneous retreat and ice melt of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

  P. Milillo, E. Rignot, P. Rizzoli, B. Scheuchl et al.

  Science Advances · 2019

  Cited by 172

• Tidally induced variations in vertical and horizontal motion on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, inferred from remotely sensed observations

  B. M. Minchew, M. Simons, B. Riel, P. Milillo

  Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface · 2017

  Cited by 70

• Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica

  P. Milillo, E. Rignot, P. Rizzoli, B. Scheuchl et al.

  Nature Geoscience · 2022

  Cited by 68

• 3D velocity field time series using synthetic aperture radar: Application to tidal-timescale ice-flow variability in Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica

  P. Milillo, B. Minchew, P. Agram, B. Riel et al.

  Proceedings of SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering · 2016

  Cited by 1also SAR methods and machine learning

• Importance of ice elasticity in simulating tide-induced grounding line variations along prograde bed slopes

  N. Ross, P. Milillo, K. Nakshatrala, R. Ballarini et al.

  Cryosphere · 2025

• Automated grounding line delineation using deep learning and phase gradient-based approaches on COSMO-SkyMed DInSAR data

  N. Ross, P. Milillo, L. Dini

  Remote Sensing of Environment · 2024

  Cited by 6also SAR methods and machine learning

• Antarctic grounding line delineation from the Italian Space Agency COSMO-SkyMed DInSAR data

  N. Ross, P. Milillo, L. Dini

  Scientific data · 2025

  also SAR methods and machine learning

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