Articles | Volume 10, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2217-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2217-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Sep 2016
Research article |
| 26 Sep 2016
The impact of melt ponds on summertime microwave brightness temperatures and sea-ice concentrations
Stefan Kern
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Center for Climate System Analysis and Prediction CliSAP, Hamburg, Germany
Anja Rösel
Norsk Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway
Leif Toudal Pedersen
Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
Natalia Ivanova
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center NERSC, Bergen, Norway
Roberto Saldo
Danish Technical University-Space, Copenhagen, Denmark
Rasmus Tage Tonboe
Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
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- Comparison of Passive Microwave Data with Shipborne Photographic Observations of Summer Sea Ice Concentration along an Arctic Cruise Path Q. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11172009
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- Sea ice concentration inversion based on data screening and ASI algorithm X. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2024.116462
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- Will the summer sea ice in the Arctic reach a tipping point? O. Johannessen & E. Shalina https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aosl.2023.100352
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- Estimating Sea Ice Concentration From SAR: Training Convolutional Neural Networks With Passive Microwave Data C. Cooke & K. Scott https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2019.2892723
- The Arctic Ocean Observation Operator for 6.9 GHz (ARC3O) – Part 2: Development and evaluation C. Burgard et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2387-2020
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- Influence of Melt Ponds on the SSMIS-Based Summer Sea Ice Concentrations in the Arctic J. Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13193882
- A new sea ice concentration product in the polar regions derived from the FengYun-3 MWRI sensors Y. Chen et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3223-2023
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- Evaluation of the AMSR2 Ice Extent at the Arctic Sea Ice Edge Using an SAR-Based Ice Extent Product Y. Sun et al. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2023.3281594
- Interannual variability and evolution of pan-arctic melt pond fraction associated with atmospheric circulation during 2000–2023 J. Feng et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105459
- Skillful spring forecasts of September Arctic sea ice extent using passive microwave sea ice observations A. Petty et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016EF000495
- Pan-Arctic melt pond fraction trend, variability, and contribution to sea ice changes J. Feng et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103932
- Resolution enhanced sea ice concentration: a new algorithm applied to AMSR2 microwave radiometry data J. Rusin et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2024.6
- Variability and trends in the Arctic Sea ice cover: Results from different techniques J. Comiso et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012768
- Satellite passive microwave sea-ice concentration data set inter-comparison for Arctic summer conditions S. Kern et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2469-2020
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 09 Jun 2026
Short summary
Sea ice, frozen seawater floating on polar oceans, is covered by meltwater puddles, so-called melt ponds, during summer. Methods used to compute Arctic sea-ice concentration (SIC) from microwave satellite data are influenced by melt ponds. We apply eight such methods to one microwave dataset and compare SIC with visible data. We conclude all methods fail to distinguish melt ponds from leads between ice floes; SIC biases are negative (positive) for ponded (non-ponded) sea ice and can exceed 20 %.
Sea ice, frozen seawater floating on polar oceans, is covered by meltwater puddles, so-called...
