The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4453-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4453-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
04 Dec 2020
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 04 Dec 2020

The Antarctic sea ice cover from ICESat-2 and CryoSat-2: freeboard, snow depth, and ice thickness

Sahra Kacimi and Ron Kwok

Data sets

ASPeCt Sea Ice Data from the SIPEX Voyage of the AuroraAustralis in 2007–2008, Ver. 1, P. Heil https://doi.org/10.4225/15/59a8bd4b05d10

AMSR-E/AMSR2Unified L3 Daily 25 km Brightness Temperatures & Sea IceConcentration Polar Grids, Version T. Markus, J. C. Comiso, and W. N. Meier https://doi.org/10.5067/TRUIAL3WPAUP

L1b SAR Precise Orbit. Baseline D European Space Agency (ESA) https://doi.org/10.5270/CR2-2cnblvi

L1b SARin Precise Orbit. Baseline D European Space Agency (ESA) https://doi.org/10.5270/CR2-u3805kw

ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Sea IceFreeboard, Version 2 R. Kwok, G. Cunningham, T. Markus, D. Hancock, J. H. Morison, S. P. Palm, S. L. Farrell, A. Ivanoff, J. Wimert, and the ICESat-2 Science Team https://doi.org/10.5067/ATLAS/ATL10.002

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Short summary
Our current understanding of Antarctic ice cover is largely informed by ice extent measurements from passive microwave sensors. These records, while useful, provide a limited picture of how the ice is responding to climate change. In this paper, we combine measurements from ICESat-2 and CryoSat-2 missions to assess snow depth and ice thickness of the Antarctic ice cover over an 8-month period (April through November 2019). The potential impact of salinity in the snow layer is discussed.
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