Articles | Volume 16, issue 8
The Cryosphere, 16, 3235–3248, 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3235-2022
The Cryosphere, 16, 3235–3248, 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3235-2022
Research article
12 Aug 2022
Research article | 12 Aug 2022

Improving model-satellite comparisons of sea ice melt onset with a satellite simulator

Abigail Smith et al.

Data sets

DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures, Version 5 W. N. Meier, H. Wilcox, M. A. Hardman, and J. S. Stewart https://doi.org/10.5067/QU2UYQ6T0B3P

AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 25 km Brightness Temperature & Sea Ice Concentration Polar Grids, Version 3 D. J. Cavalieri, T. Markus, and J. C. Comiso https://doi.org/10.5067/AMSR-E/AE_SI25.003

Model code and software

Original ARC3O Clara Burgard https://arc3o.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

ARC3O-related code adapted and created for this study Abigail Smith https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6559861

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Short summary
The timing of Arctic sea ice melt each year is an important metric for assessing how sea ice in climate models compares to satellite observations. Here, we utilize a new tool for creating more direct comparisons between climate model projections and satellite observations of Arctic sea ice, such that the melt onset dates are defined the same way. This tool allows us to identify climate model biases more clearly and gain more information about what the satellites are observing.