In light of future sea-level change investigations of the polar ice sheets have become a major concern in climate sciences. Despite all research efforts it is not accurately known today whether the large ice sheet of Antarctica is losing or gaining mass. This leads to large uncertainties in predictions regarding sea-level rise in the 21st century. Part of the uncertainty in determination of the Antarctic mass balance is due to the fact that this huge continent is not covered sufficiently by ground-based measurements. Helgard Anschutz contributes with her study on snow-accumulation rates in...