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In light of future sea-level change investigations ofthe polar ice sheets have become a major concern inclimate sciences. Despite all research efforts it isnot accurately known today whether the large icesheet of Antarctica is losing or gaining mass. Thisleads to large uncertainties in predictions regardingsea-level rise in the 21st century. Part of theuncertainty in determination of the Antarctic massbalance is due to the fact that this huge continentis not covered sufficiently by ground-basedmeasurements.Helgard Anschütz contributes with her study onsnow-accumulation rates in coastal East Antarcticanew data sets and insight in local features thataffect the accumulation pattern. The study discussessmall-scale spatial and temporal variability of snowaccumulation over the last decades in relation tocurrent satellite missions and large-scale models.This book is essentially her Ph.D. thesis and will beof interest for climate scientist and everybodyinterested in the polar regions and their effect onglobal climate.

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