Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4453-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4453-2020
Research article
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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

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Discipline: Sea ice | Subject: Antarctic
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Cited articles

Andreas, E. L. and Claffey, K. J.: Air-Ice Drag Coefficients in the Western Weddell Sea .1. Values Deduced from Profile Measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 4821–4831, https://doi.org/10.1029/94jc02015, 1995. 
Comiso, J. C. and Nishio, F.: Trends in the sea ice cover using enhanced and compatible AMSR-E, SSM/I, and SMMR data, J. Geophys. Res., 113, C02S07, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007jc004257, 2008. 
Cullather, R. I., Bromwich, D. H., and Van Woert, M. L.: Spatial and temporal variability of Antarctic precipitation from atmospheric methods, J Climate, 11, 334–367, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1998)011<0334:Satvoa>2.0.Co;2, 1998. 
Drucker, R., Martin, S., and Kwok, R.: Sea ice production and export from coastal polynyas in the Weddell and Ross Seas, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L17502, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048668, 2011. 
European Space Agency (ESA): L1b SAR Precise Orbit. Baseline D, https://doi.org/10.5270/CR2-2cnblvi, 2019a. 
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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.