Articles | Volume 18, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3117-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3117-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Jul 2024
Research article |
| 04 Jul 2024
| 04 Jul 2024
A study of sea ice topography in the Weddell and Ross seas using dual-polarimetric TanDEM-X imagery
Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, University College London, London, WC1E 6BS, UK
Irena Hajnsek
Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Microwaves and Radar Institute, German Aerospace Center (DLR), 82234 Wessling, Germany
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Lanqing Huang, Georg Fischer, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 15, 5323–5344, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5323-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5323-2021, 2021
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This study shows an elevation difference between the radar interferometric measurements and the optical measurements from a coordinated campaign over the snow-covered deformed sea ice in the western Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The objective is to correct the penetration bias of microwaves and to generate a precise sea ice topographic map, including the snow depth on top. Excellent performance for sea ice topographic retrieval is achieved with the proposed model and the developed retrieval scheme.
Kathrin Maier, Zhuoxuan Xia, Lin Liu, Mark J. Lara, Jurjen van der Sluijs, Philipp Bernhard, and Irena Hajnsek
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2187, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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Our study explores how thawing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau triggers landslides, mobilising stored carbon. Using satellite data from 2011 to 2020, we measured soil erosion, ice loss, and carbon mobilisation. While current impacts are modest, increasing landslide activity suggests future significance. This research underscores the need to understand permafrost thaw's role in carbon dynamics and climate change.
Shiyi Li, Lanqing Huang, Philipp Bernhard, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 19, 1621–1639, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1621-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1621-2025, 2025
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This work presents an improved method for seasonal wet snow mapping in Karakoram using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data and topographic data. This method enables robust wet snow classification in complex mountainous terrain. Large-scale wet snow maps were generated using the proposed method, covering three major water basins in Karakoram over 4 years (2017–2021). Crucial snow variables were further derived from the maps and provided valuable insights on regional snow melting dynamics.
Sara-Patricia Schlenk, Georg Fischer, Matteo Pardini, and Irena Hajnsek
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3474, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3474, 2025
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Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) revealed ice features of unknown glaciological origin in southwest Greenland’s ablation zone. Using SAR techniques, we identified low-backscatter areas with surface scattering, in contrast to surrounding high-backscatter areas with scattering from the subsurface. Our first theory relates the low backscatter to residual liquid water in a weathering crust and the surrounding to bare glacier ice. These findings may deepen our understanding of ablation zone properties.
Marcel Stefko, Silvan Leinss, Othmar Frey, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 16, 2859–2879, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2859-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2859-2022, 2022
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The coherent backscatter opposition effect can enhance the intensity of radar backscatter from dry snow by up to a factor of 2. Despite widespread use of radar backscatter data by snow scientists, this effect has received notably little attention. For the first time, we characterize this effect for the Earth's snow cover with bistatic radar experiments from ground and from space. We are also able to retrieve scattering and absorbing lengths of snow at Ku- and X-band frequencies.
Philipp Bernhard, Simon Zwieback, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 16, 2819–2835, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, 2022
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With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced carbon mobilization. In this work elevation change estimates generated from satellite observations reveal a substantial acceleration of carbon mobilization on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia between 2010 and 2021. The strong increase occurring in 2020 coincided with a severe Siberian heatwave and highlights that carbon mobilization can respond sharply and non-linearly to increasing temperatures.
Philipp Bernhard, Simon Zwieback, Nora Bergner, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 16, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1-2022, 2022
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We present an investigation of retrogressive thaw slumps in 10 study sites across the Arctic. These slumps have major impacts on hydrology and ecosystems and can also reinforce climate change by the mobilization of carbon. Using time series of digital elevation models, we found that thaw slump change rates follow a specific type of distribution that is known from landslides in more temperate landscapes and that the 2D area change is strongly related to the 3D volumetric change.
Lanqing Huang, Georg Fischer, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 15, 5323–5344, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5323-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5323-2021, 2021
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This study shows an elevation difference between the radar interferometric measurements and the optical measurements from a coordinated campaign over the snow-covered deformed sea ice in the western Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The objective is to correct the penetration bias of microwaves and to generate a precise sea ice topographic map, including the snow depth on top. Excellent performance for sea ice topographic retrieval is achieved with the proposed model and the developed retrieval scheme.
Simon Zwieback, Steven V. Kokelj, Frank Günther, Julia Boike, Guido Grosse, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 12, 549–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-549-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-549-2018, 2018
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We analyse elevation losses at thaw slumps, at which icy sediments are exposed. As ice requires a large amount of energy to melt, one would expect that mass wasting is governed by the available energy. However, we observe very little mass wasting in June, despite the ample energy supply. Also, in summer, mass wasting is not always energy limited. This highlights the importance of other processes, such as the formation of a protective veneer, in shaping mass wasting at sub-seasonal scales.
Vanessa Round, Silvan Leinss, Matthias Huss, Christoph Haemmig, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 11, 723–739, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-723-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-723-2017, 2017
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Recent surging of Kyagar Glacier (Karakoram) caused a hazardous ice-dammed lake to form and burst in 2015 and 2016. We use remotely sensed glacier surface velocities and surface elevation to observe dramatic changes in speed and mass distribution during the surge. The surge was hydrologically controlled with rapid summer onset and dramatic termination following lake outburst. Since the surge, the potential outburst hazard has remained high, and continued remote monitoring is crucial.
Silvan Leinss, Henning Löwe, Martin Proksch, Juha Lemmetyinen, Andreas Wiesmann, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 10, 1771–1797, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1771-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1771-2016, 2016
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Four years of anisotropy measurements of seasonal snow are presented in the paper. The anisotropy was measured every 4 h with a ground-based polarimetric radar. An electromagnetic model has been developed to measured the anisotropy with radar instruments from ground and from space. The anisotropic permittivity was derived with Maxwell–Garnett-type mixing formulas which are shown to be equivalent to series expansions of the permittivity tensor based on spatial correlation function of snow.
Related subject area
Discipline: Sea ice | Subject: Remote Sensing
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Novel methods to study sea ice deformation, linear kinematic features and coherent dynamic clusters from imaging remote sensing data
Snow depth estimation on leadless landfast ice using Cryo2Ice satellite observations
Updated Arctic melt pond fraction dataset and trends 2002–2023 using ENVISAT and Sentinel-3 remote sensing data
Impact assessment of snow thickness, sea ice density and water density in CryoSat-2-derived sea ice thickness
Pan-Arctic sea ice concentration from SAR and passive microwave
Exploring microwave penetration into snow on Antarctic summer sea ice along CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 (CRYO2ICE) orbit from multi-frequency air- and spaceborne altimetry
Assessing sea ice microwave emissivity up to submillimeter waves from airborne and satellite observations
The AutoICE Challenge
Estimating differential penetration of green (532 nm) laser light over sea ice with NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper: observations and models
Estimating the uncertainty of sea-ice area and sea-ice extent from satellite retrievals
Sea ice transport and replenishment across and within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 2016–2022
SAR deep learning sea ice retrieval trained with airborne laser scanner measurements from the MOSAiC expedition
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Advances in altimetric snow depth estimates using bi-frequency SARAL and CryoSat-2 Ka–Ku measurements
Antarctic snow-covered sea ice topography derivation from TanDEM-X using polarimetric SAR interferometry
Impacts of snow data and processing methods on the interpretation of long-term changes in Baffin Bay early spring sea ice thickness
A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images
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Spaceborne infrared imagery for early detection of Weddell Polynya opening
Estimating instantaneous sea-ice dynamics from space using the bi-static radar measurements of Earth Explorer 10 candidate Harmony
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The Cryosphere, 19, 2045–2065, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2045-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2045-2025, 2025
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Grounded sea ice ridges stabilize nearshore sea ice by anchoring it in the seafloor. In this study, we develop a method to identify grounded ridges in satellite data and measure the height, depth, distance from shore, and width of a thousand ridges across the Alaska Arctic, finding regional differences in these metrics across the coastline. This method lays the groundwork for a better understanding of nearshore ice stability, holding importance for Arctic community food security and safety.
Polona Itkin
The Cryosphere, 19, 1135–1151, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1135-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1135-2025, 2025
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Radar satellite images of sea ice were analyzed to understand how sea ice moves and deforms. These data are noisy, especially when looking at small details. A method was developed to filter out the noise. The filtered data were used to monitor how ice plates stretch and compress over time, revealing slow healing of ice fractures. Cohesive clusters of ice plates that move together were studied too. These methods provide climate-relevant insights into the dynamic nature of winter sea ice cover.
Monojit Saha, Julienne Stroeve, Dustin Isleifson, John Yackel, Vishnu Nandan, Jack Christopher Landy, and Hoi Ming Lam
The Cryosphere, 19, 325–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-325-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-325-2025, 2025
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Snow on sea ice is vital for near-shore sea ice geophysical and biological processes. Past studies have measured snow depths using the satellite altimeters Cryosat-2 and ICESat-2 (Cryo2Ice), but estimating sea surface height from leadless landfast sea ice remains challenging. Snow depths from Cryo2Ice are compared to in situ data after adjusting for tides. Realistic snow depths are retrieved, but differences in roughness, satellite footprints, and snow geophysical properties are identified.
Larysa Istomina, Hannah Niehaus, and Gunnar Spreen
The Cryosphere, 19, 83–105, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-83-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-83-2025, 2025
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Melt water puddles, or melt ponds on top of the Arctic sea ice, are a good measure of the Arctic climate state. In the context of recent climate warming, the Arctic has warmed about 4 times faster than the rest of the world, and a long-term dataset of the melt pond fraction is needed to be able to model the future development of the Arctic climate. We present such a dataset, produce 2002–2023 trends and highlight a potential melt regime shift with drastic regional trends of + 20 % per decade.
Imke Sievers, Henriette Skourup, and Till A. S. Rasmussen
The Cryosphere, 18, 5985–6004, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5985-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5985-2024, 2024
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To derive sea ice thickness (SIT) from satellite freeboard (FB) observations, assumptions about snow thickness, snow density, sea ice density and water density are needed. These parameters are impossible to observe alongside FB, so many existing products use empirical values. In this study, modeled values are used instead. The modeled values and otherwise commonly used empirical values are evaluated against in situ observations. In a further analysis, the influence on SIT is quantified.
Tore Wulf, Jørgen Buus-Hinkler, Suman Singha, Hoyeon Shi, and Matilde Brandt Kreiner
The Cryosphere, 18, 5277–5300, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5277-2024, 2024
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Here, we present ASIP: a new and comprehensive deep-learning-based methodology to retrieve high-resolution sea ice concentration with accompanying well-calibrated uncertainties from satellite-based active and passive microwave observations at a pan-Arctic scale for all seasons. In a comparative study against pan-Arctic ice charts and well-established passive-microwave-based sea ice products, we show that ASIP generalizes well to the pan-Arctic region.
Renée M. Fredensborg Hansen, Henriette Skourup, Eero Rinne, Arttu Jutila, Isobel R. Lawrence, Andrew Shepherd, Knut V. Høyland, Jilu Li, Fernando Rodriguez-Morales, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Jeremy Wilkinson, Gaelle Veyssiere, Donghui Yi, René Forsberg, and Taniâ G. D. Casal
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2854, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2854, 2024
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In December 2022, an airborne campaign collected unprecedented coincident multi-frequency radar and lidar data over sea ice along a CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 (CRYO2ICE) orbit in the Weddell Sea useful for evaluating microwave penetration. We found limited snow penetration at Ka- and Ku-bands, with significant contributions from the air-snow interface, contradicting traditional assumptions. These findings challenge current methods for comparing air- and spaceborne altimeter estimates of sea ice.
Nils Risse, Mario Mech, Catherine Prigent, Gunnar Spreen, and Susanne Crewell
The Cryosphere, 18, 4137–4163, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4137-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4137-2024, 2024
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Passive microwave observations from satellites are crucial for monitoring Arctic sea ice and atmosphere. To do this effectively, it is important to understand how sea ice emits microwaves. Through unique Arctic sea ice observations, we improved our understanding, identified four distinct emission types, and expanded current knowledge to include higher frequencies. These findings will enhance our ability to monitor the Arctic climate and provide valuable information for new satellite missions.
Andreas Stokholm, Jørgen Buus-Hinkler, Tore Wulf, Anton Korosov, Roberto Saldo, Leif Toudal Pedersen, David Arthurs, Ionut Dragan, Iacopo Modica, Juan Pedro, Annekatrien Debien, Xinwei Chen, Muhammed Patel, Fernando Jose Pena Cantu, Javier Noa Turnes, Jinman Park, Linlin Xu, Katharine Andrea Scott, David Anthony Clausi, Yuan Fang, Mingzhe Jiang, Saeid Taleghanidoozdoozan, Neil Curtis Brubacher, Armina Soleymani, Zacharie Gousseau, Michał Smaczny, Patryk Kowalski, Jacek Komorowski, David Rijlaarsdam, Jan Nicolaas van Rijn, Jens Jakobsen, Martin Samuel James Rogers, Nick Hughes, Tom Zagon, Rune Solberg, Nicolas Longépé, and Matilde Brandt Kreiner
The Cryosphere, 18, 3471–3494, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3471-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3471-2024, 2024
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The AutoICE challenge encouraged the development of deep learning models to map multiple aspects of sea ice – the amount of sea ice in an area and the age and ice floe size – using multiple sources of satellite and weather data across the Canadian and Greenlandic Arctic. Professionally drawn operational sea ice charts were used as a reference. A total of 179 students and sea ice and AI specialists participated and produced maps in broad agreement with the sea ice charts.
Michael Studinger, Benjamin E. Smith, Nathan Kurtz, Alek Petty, Tyler Sutterley, and Rachel Tilling
The Cryosphere, 18, 2625–2652, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2625-2024, 2024
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We use green lidar data and natural-color imagery over sea ice to quantify elevation biases potentially impacting estimates of change in ice thickness of the polar regions. We complement our analysis using a model of scattering of light in snow and ice that predicts the shape of lidar waveforms reflecting from snow and ice surfaces based on the shape of the transmitted pulse. We find that biased elevations exist in airborne and spaceborne data products from green lidars.
Andreas Wernecke, Dirk Notz, Stefan Kern, and Thomas Lavergne
The Cryosphere, 18, 2473–2486, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2473-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2473-2024, 2024
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The total Arctic sea-ice area (SIA), which is an important climate indicator, is routinely monitored with the help of satellite measurements. Uncertainties in observations of sea-ice concentration (SIC) partly cancel out when summed up to the total SIA, but the degree to which this is happening has been unclear. Here we find that the uncertainty daily SIA estimates, based on uncertainties in SIC, are about 300 000 km2. The 2002 to 2017 September decline in SIA is approx. 105 000 ± 9000 km2 a−1.
Stephen E. L. Howell, David G. Babb, Jack C. Landy, Isolde A. Glissenaar, Kaitlin McNeil, Benoit Montpetit, and Mike Brady
The Cryosphere, 18, 2321–2333, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2321-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2321-2024, 2024
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The CAA serves as both a source and a sink for sea ice from the Arctic Ocean, while also exporting sea ice into Baffin Bay. It is also an important region with respect to navigating the Northwest Passage. Here, we quantify sea ice transport and replenishment across and within the CAA from 2016 to 2022. We also provide the first estimates of the ice area and volume flux within the CAA from the Queen Elizabeth Islands to Parry Channel, which spans the central region of the Northwest Passage.
Karl Kortum, Suman Singha, Gunnar Spreen, Nils Hutter, Arttu Jutila, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 2207–2222, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2207-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2207-2024, 2024
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A dataset of 20 radar satellite acquisitions and near-simultaneous helicopter-based surveys of the ice topography during the MOSAiC expedition is constructed and used to train a variety of deep learning algorithms. The results give realistic insights into the accuracy of retrieval of measured ice classes using modern deep learning models. The models able to learn from the spatial distribution of the measured sea ice classes are shown to have a clear advantage over those that cannot.
Xinwei Chen, Muhammed Patel, Fernando J. Pena Cantu, Jinman Park, Javier Noa Turnes, Linlin Xu, K. Andrea Scott, and David A. Clausi
The Cryosphere, 18, 1621–1632, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1621-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1621-2024, 2024
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This paper introduces an automated sea ice mapping pipeline utilizing a multi-task U-Net architecture. It attained the top score of 86.3 % in the AutoICE challenge. Ablation studies revealed that incorporating brightness temperature data and spatial–temporal information significantly enhanced model accuracy. Accurate sea ice mapping is vital for comprehending the Arctic environment and its global climate effects, underscoring the potential of deep learning.
Luisa von Albedyll, Stefan Hendricks, Nils Hutter, Dmitrii Murashkin, Lars Kaleschke, Sascha Willmes, Linda Thielke, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Gunnar Spreen, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 1259–1285, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1259-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1259-2024, 2024
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Leads (openings in sea ice cover) are created by sea ice dynamics. Because they are important for many processes in the Arctic winter climate, we aim to detect them with satellites. We present two new techniques to detect lead widths of a few hundred meters at high spatial resolution (700 m) and independent of clouds or sun illumination. We use the MOSAiC drift 2019–2020 in the Arctic for our case study and compare our new products to other existing lead products.
Qin Zhang and Nick Hughes
The Cryosphere, 17, 5519–5537, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5519-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5519-2023, 2023
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To alleviate tedious manual image annotations for training deep learning (DL) models in floe instance segmentation, we employ a classical image processing technique to automatically label floes in images. We then apply a DL semantic method for fast and adaptive floe instance segmentation from high-resolution airborne and satellite images. A post-processing algorithm is also proposed to refine the segmentation and further to derive acceptable floe size distributions at local and global scales.
Alexander Mchedlishvili, Christof Lüpkes, Alek Petty, Michel Tsamados, and Gunnar Spreen
The Cryosphere, 17, 4103–4131, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4103-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4103-2023, 2023
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In this study we looked at sea ice–atmosphere drag coefficients, quantities that help with characterizing the friction between the atmosphere and sea ice, and vice versa. Using ICESat-2, a laser altimeter that measures elevation differences by timing how long it takes for photons it sends out to return to itself, we could map the roughness, i.e., how uneven the surface is. From roughness we then estimate drag force, the frictional force between sea ice and the atmosphere, across the Arctic.
Philip Rostosky and Gunnar Spreen
The Cryosphere, 17, 3867–3881, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3867-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3867-2023, 2023
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During winter, storms entering the Arctic region can bring warm air into the cold environment. Strong increases in air temperature modify the characteristics of the Arctic snow and ice cover. The Arctic sea ice cover can be monitored by satellites observing the natural emission of the Earth's surface. In this study, we show that during warm air intrusions the change in the snow characteristics influences the satellite-derived sea ice cover, leading to a false reduction of the estimated ice area.
Ellen M. Buckley, Sinéad L. Farrell, Ute C. Herzfeld, Melinda A. Webster, Thomas Trantow, Oliwia N. Baney, Kyle A. Duncan, Huilin Han, and Matthew Lawson
The Cryosphere, 17, 3695–3719, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3695-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3695-2023, 2023
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In this study, we use satellite observations to investigate the evolution of melt ponds on the Arctic sea ice surface. We derive melt pond depth from ICESat-2 measurements of the pond surface and bathymetry and melt pond fraction (MPF) from the classification of Sentinel-2 imagery. MPF increases to a peak of 16 % in late June and then decreases, while depth increases steadily. This work demonstrates the ability to track evolving melt conditions in three dimensions throughout the summer.
Yujia Qiu, Xiao-Ming Li, and Huadong Guo
The Cryosphere, 17, 2829–2849, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2829-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2829-2023, 2023
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Spaceborne thermal infrared sensors with kilometer-scale resolution cannot support adequate parameterization of Arctic leads. For the first time, we applied the 30 m resolution data from the Thermal Infrared Spectrometer (TIS) on the emerging SDGSAT-1 to detect Arctic leads. Validation with Sentinel-2 data shows high accuracy for the three TIS bands. Compared to MODIS, the TIS presents more narrow leads, demonstrating its great potential for observing previously unresolvable Arctic leads.
Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Robbie Mallett, Julienne Stroeve, Torsten Geldsetzer, Randall Scharien, Rasmus Tonboe, John Yackel, Jack Landy, David Clemens-Sewall, Arttu Jutila, David N. Wagner, Daniela Krampe, Marcus Huntemann, Mallik Mahmud, David Jensen, Thomas Newman, Stefan Hendricks, Gunnar Spreen, Amy Macfarlane, Martin Schneebeli, James Mead, Robert Ricker, Michael Gallagher, Claude Duguay, Ian Raphael, Chris Polashenski, Michel Tsamados, Ilkka Matero, and Mario Hoppmann
The Cryosphere, 17, 2211–2229, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023, 2023
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We show that wind redistributes snow on Arctic sea ice, and Ka- and Ku-band radar measurements detect both newly deposited snow and buried snow layers that can affect the accuracy of snow depth estimates on sea ice. Radar, laser, meteorological, and snow data were collected during the MOSAiC expedition. With frequent occurrence of storms in the Arctic, our results show that
wind-redistributed snow needs to be accounted for to improve snow depth estimates on sea ice from satellite radars.
Dyre Oliver Dammann, Mark A. Johnson, Andrew R. Mahoney, and Emily R. Fedders
The Cryosphere, 17, 1609–1622, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1609-2023, 2023
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We investigate the GAMMA Portable Radar Interferometer (GPRI) as a tool for evaluating flexural–gravity waves in sea ice in near real time. With a GPRI mounted on grounded ice near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, we identify 20–50 s infragravity waves in landfast ice with ~1 mm amplitude during 23–24 April 2021. Observed wave speed and periods compare well with modeled wave propagation and on-ice accelerometers, confirming the ability to track propagation and properties of waves over hundreds of meters.
Zhaoqing Dong, Lijian Shi, Mingsen Lin, Yongjun Jia, Tao Zeng, and Suhui Wu
The Cryosphere, 17, 1389–1410, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1389-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1389-2023, 2023
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We try to explore the application of SGDR data in polar sea ice thickness. Through this study, we find that it seems difficult to obtain reasonable results by using conventional methods. So we use the 15 lowest points per 25 km to estimate SSHA to retrieve more reasonable Arctic radar freeboard and thickness. This study also provides reference for reprocessing L1 data. We will release products that are more reasonable and suitable for polar sea ice thickness retrieval to better evaluate HY-2B.
Wenkai Guo, Polona Itkin, Suman Singha, Anthony P. Doulgeris, Malin Johansson, and Gunnar Spreen
The Cryosphere, 17, 1279–1297, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1279-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1279-2023, 2023
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Sea ice maps are produced to cover the MOSAiC Arctic expedition (2019–2020) and divide sea ice into scientifically meaningful classes. We use a high-resolution X-band synthetic aperture radar dataset and show how image brightness and texture systematically vary across the images. We use an algorithm that reliably corrects this effect and achieve good results, as evaluated by comparisons to ground observations and other studies. The sea ice maps are useful as a basis for future MOSAiC studies.
Elie Dumas-Lefebvre and Dany Dumont
The Cryosphere, 17, 827–842, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-827-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-827-2023, 2023
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By changing the shape of ice floes, wave-induced sea ice breakup dramatically affects the large-scale dynamics of sea ice. As this process is also the trigger of multiple others, it was deemed relevant to study how breakup itself affects the ice floe size distribution. To do so, a ship sailed close to ice floes, and the breakup that it generated was recorded with a drone. The obtained data shed light on the underlying physics of wave-induced sea ice breakup.
Felix L. Müller, Stephan Paul, Stefan Hendricks, and Denise Dettmering
The Cryosphere, 17, 809–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-809-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-809-2023, 2023
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Thinning sea ice has significant impacts on the energy exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. In this study we present visual and quantitative comparisons of thin-ice detections obtained from classified Cryosat-2 radar reflections and thin-ice-thickness estimates derived from MODIS thermal-infrared imagery. In addition to good comparability, the results of the study indicate the potential for a deeper understanding of sea ice in the polar seas and improved processing of altimeter data.
Maxim L. Lamare, John D. Hedley, and Martin D. King
The Cryosphere, 17, 737–751, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-737-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-737-2023, 2023
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The reflectivity of sea ice is crucial for modern climate change and for monitoring sea ice from satellites. The reflectivity depends on the angle at which the ice is viewed and the angle illuminated. The directional reflectivity is calculated as a function of viewing angle, illuminating angle, thickness, wavelength and surface roughness. Roughness cannot be considered independent of thickness, illumination angle and the wavelength. Remote sensors will use the data to image sea ice from space.
Yufang Ye, Yanbing Luo, Yan Sun, Mohammed Shokr, Signe Aaboe, Fanny Girard-Ardhuin, Fengming Hui, Xiao Cheng, and Zhuoqi Chen
The Cryosphere, 17, 279–308, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-279-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-279-2023, 2023
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Arctic sea ice type (SITY) variation is a sensitive indicator of climate change. This study gives a systematic inter-comparison and evaluation of eight SITY products. Main results include differences in SITY products being significant, with average Arctic multiyear ice extent up to 1.8×106 km2; Ku-band scatterometer SITY products generally performing better; and factors such as satellite inputs, classification methods, training datasets and post-processing highly impacting their performance.
James Anheuser, Yinghui Liu, and Jeffrey R. Key
The Cryosphere, 16, 4403–4421, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4403-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4403-2022, 2022
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A prominent part of the polar climate system is sea ice, a better understanding of which would lead to better understanding Earth's climate. Newly published methods for observing the temperature of sea ice have made possible a new method for estimating daily sea ice thickness growth from space using an energy balance. The method compares well with existing sea ice thickness observations.
Mikko Lensu and Markku Similä
The Cryosphere, 16, 4363–4377, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4363-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4363-2022, 2022
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Ice ridges form a compressing ice cover. From above they appear as walls of up to few metres in height and extend even kilometres across the ice. Below they may reach tens of metres under the sea surface. Ridges need to be observed for the purposes of ice forecasting and ice information production. This relies mostly on ridging signatures discernible in radar satellite (SAR) images. New methods to quantify ridging from SAR have been developed and are shown to agree with field observations.
Julienne Stroeve, Vishnu Nandan, Rosemary Willatt, Ruzica Dadic, Philip Rostosky, Michael Gallagher, Robbie Mallett, Andrew Barrett, Stefan Hendricks, Rasmus Tonboe, Michelle McCrystall, Mark Serreze, Linda Thielke, Gunnar Spreen, Thomas Newman, John Yackel, Robert Ricker, Michel Tsamados, Amy Macfarlane, Henna-Reetta Hannula, and Martin Schneebeli
The Cryosphere, 16, 4223–4250, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022, 2022
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Impacts of rain on snow (ROS) on satellite-retrieved sea ice variables remain to be fully understood. This study evaluates the impacts of ROS over sea ice on active and passive microwave data collected during the 2019–20 MOSAiC expedition. Rainfall and subsequent refreezing of the snowpack significantly altered emitted and backscattered radar energy, laying important groundwork for understanding their impacts on operational satellite retrievals of various sea ice geophysical variables.
Benjamin Heikki Redmond Roche and Martin D. King
The Cryosphere, 16, 3949–3970, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3949-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3949-2022, 2022
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Sea ice is bright, playing an important role in reflecting incoming solar radiation. The reflectivity of sea ice is affected by the presence of pollutants, such as crude oil, even at low concentrations. Modelling how the brightness of three types of sea ice is affected by increasing concentrations of crude oils shows that the type of oil, the type of ice, the thickness of the ice, and the size of the oil droplets are important factors. This shows that sea ice is vulnerable to oil pollution.
Alexis Anne Denton and Mary-Louise Timmermans
The Cryosphere, 16, 1563–1578, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1563-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1563-2022, 2022
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Arctic sea ice has a distribution of ice sizes that provides insight into the physics of the ice. We examine this distribution from satellite imagery from 1999 to 2014 in the Canada Basin. We find that it appears as a power law whose power becomes less negative with increasing ice concentrations and has a seasonality tied to that of ice concentration. Results suggest ice concentration be considered in models of this distribution and are important for understanding sea ice in a warming Arctic.
Stephen E. L. Howell, Mike Brady, and Alexander S. Komarov
The Cryosphere, 16, 1125–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1125-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1125-2022, 2022
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We describe, apply, and validate the Environment and Climate Change Canada automated sea ice tracking system (ECCC-ASITS) that routinely generates large-scale sea ice motion (SIM) over the pan-Arctic domain using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The ECCC-ASITS was applied to the incoming image streams of Sentinel-1AB and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission from March 2020 to October 2021 using a total of 135 471 SAR images and generated new SIM datasets (i.e., 7 d 25 km and 3 d 6.25 km).
Wayne de Jager and Marcello Vichi
The Cryosphere, 16, 925–940, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-925-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-925-2022, 2022
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Ice motion can be used to better understand how weather and climate change affect the ice. Antarctic sea ice extent has shown large variability over the observed period, and dynamical features may also have changed. Our method allows for the quantification of rotational motion caused by wind and how this may have changed with time. Cyclonic motion dominates the Atlantic sector, particularly from 2015 onwards, while anticyclonic motion has remained comparatively small and unchanged.
Stefan Kern, Thomas Lavergne, Leif Toudal Pedersen, Rasmus Tage Tonboe, Louisa Bell, Maybritt Meyer, and Luise Zeigermann
The Cryosphere, 16, 349–378, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-349-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-349-2022, 2022
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High-resolution clear-sky optical satellite imagery has rarely been used to evaluate satellite passive microwave sea-ice concentration products beyond case-study level. By comparing 10 such products with sea-ice concentration estimated from > 350 such optical images in both hemispheres, we expand results of earlier evaluation studies for these products. Results stress the need to look beyond precision and accuracy and to discuss the evaluation data’s quality and filters applied in the products.
Wenkai Guo, Polona Itkin, Johannes Lohse, Malin Johansson, and Anthony Paul Doulgeris
The Cryosphere, 16, 237–257, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-237-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-237-2022, 2022
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This study uses radar satellite data categorized into different sea ice types to detect ice deformation, which is significant for climate science and ship navigation. For this, we examine radar signal differences of sea ice between two similar satellite sensors and show an optimal way to apply categorization methods across sensors, so more data can be used for this purpose. This study provides a basis for future reliable and constant detection of ice deformation remotely through satellite data.
Florent Garnier, Sara Fleury, Gilles Garric, Jérôme Bouffard, Michel Tsamados, Antoine Laforge, Marion Bocquet, Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen, and Frédérique Remy
The Cryosphere, 15, 5483–5512, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5483-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5483-2021, 2021
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Snow depth data are essential to monitor the impacts of climate change on sea ice volume variations and their impacts on the climate system. For that purpose, we present and assess the altimetric snow depth product, computed in both hemispheres from CryoSat-2 and SARAL satellite data. The use of these data instead of the common climatology reduces the sea ice thickness by about 30 cm over the 2013–2019 period. These data are also crucial to argue for the launch of the CRISTAL satellite mission.
Lanqing Huang, Georg Fischer, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 15, 5323–5344, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5323-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5323-2021, 2021
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This study shows an elevation difference between the radar interferometric measurements and the optical measurements from a coordinated campaign over the snow-covered deformed sea ice in the western Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The objective is to correct the penetration bias of microwaves and to generate a precise sea ice topographic map, including the snow depth on top. Excellent performance for sea ice topographic retrieval is achieved with the proposed model and the developed retrieval scheme.
Isolde A. Glissenaar, Jack C. Landy, Alek A. Petty, Nathan T. Kurtz, and Julienne C. Stroeve
The Cryosphere, 15, 4909–4927, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4909-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4909-2021, 2021
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Scientists can estimate sea ice thickness using satellites that measure surface height. To determine the sea ice thickness, we also need to know the snow depth and density. This paper shows that the chosen snow depth product has a considerable impact on the findings of sea ice thickness state and trends in Baffin Bay, showing mean thinning with some snow depth products and mean thickening with others. This shows that it is important to better understand and monitor snow depth on sea ice.
Marek Muchow, Amelie U. Schmitt, and Lars Kaleschke
The Cryosphere, 15, 4527–4537, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021, 2021
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Linear-like openings in sea ice, also called leads, occur with widths from meters to kilometers. We use satellite images from Sentinel-2 with a resolution of 10 m to identify leads and measure their widths. With that we investigate the frequency of lead widths using two different statistical methods, since other studies have shown a dependency of heat exchange on the lead width. We are the first to address the sea-ice lead-width distribution in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica.
Gemma M. Brett, Daniel Price, Wolfgang Rack, and Patricia J. Langhorne
The Cryosphere, 15, 4099–4115, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4099-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4099-2021, 2021
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Ice shelf meltwater in the surface ocean affects sea ice formation, causing it to be thicker and, in particular conditions, to have a loose mass of platelet ice crystals called a sub‐ice platelet layer beneath. This causes the sea ice freeboard to stand higher above sea level. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that the signature of ice shelf meltwater in the surface ocean manifesting as higher sea ice freeboard in McMurdo Sound is detectable from space using satellite technology.
Thomas Krumpen, Luisa von Albedyll, Helge F. Goessling, Stefan Hendricks, Bennet Juhls, Gunnar Spreen, Sascha Willmes, H. Jakob Belter, Klaus Dethloff, Christian Haas, Lars Kaleschke, Christian Katlein, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Robert Ricker, Philip Rostosky, Janna Rückert, Suman Singha, and Julia Sokolova
The Cryosphere, 15, 3897–3920, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3897-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3897-2021, 2021
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We use satellite data records collected along the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) drift to categorize ice conditions that shaped and characterized the floe and surroundings during the expedition. A comparison with previous years is made whenever possible. The aim of this analysis is to provide a basis and reference for subsequent research in the six main research areas of atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, biogeochemistry, remote sensing and ecology.
Thomas Lavergne, Montserrat Piñol Solé, Emily Down, and Craig Donlon
The Cryosphere, 15, 3681–3698, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3681-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3681-2021, 2021
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Pushed by winds and ocean currents, polar sea ice is on the move. We use passive microwave satellites to observe this motion. The images from their orbits are often put together into daily images before motion is measured. In our study, we measure motion from the individual orbits directly and not from the daily images. We obtain many more motion vectors, and they are more accurate. This can be used for current and future satellites, e.g. the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR).
Céline Heuzé, Lu Zhou, Martin Mohrmann, and Adriano Lemos
The Cryosphere, 15, 3401–3421, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3401-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3401-2021, 2021
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For navigation or science planning, knowing when sea ice will open in advance is a prerequisite. Yet, to date, routine spaceborne microwave observations of sea ice are unable to do so. We present the first method based on spaceborne infrared that can forecast an opening several days ahead. We develop it specifically for the Weddell Polynya, a large hole in the Antarctic winter ice cover that unexpectedly re-opened for the first time in 40 years in 2016, and determine why the polynya opened.
Marcel Kleinherenbrink, Anton Korosov, Thomas Newman, Andreas Theodosiou, Alexander S. Komarov, Yuanhao Li, Gert Mulder, Pierre Rampal, Julienne Stroeve, and Paco Lopez-Dekker
The Cryosphere, 15, 3101–3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3101-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3101-2021, 2021
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Harmony is one of the Earth Explorer 10 candidates that has the chance of being selected for launch in 2028. The mission consists of two satellites that fly in formation with Sentinel-1D, which carries a side-looking radar system. By receiving Sentinel-1's signals reflected from the surface, Harmony is able to observe instantaneous elevation and two-dimensional velocity at the surface. As such, Harmony's data allow the retrieval of sea-ice drift and wave spectra in sea-ice-covered regions.
Zhixiang Yin, Xiaodong Li, Yong Ge, Cheng Shang, Xinyan Li, Yun Du, and Feng Ling
The Cryosphere, 15, 2835–2856, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2835-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2835-2021, 2021
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MODIS thermal infrared (TIR) imagery provides promising data to study the rapid variations in the Arctic turbulent heat flux (THF). The accuracy of estimated THF, however, is low (especially for small leads) due to the coarse resolution of the MODIS TIR data. We train a deep neural network to enhance the spatial resolution of estimated THF over leads from MODIS TIR imagery. The method is found to be effective and can generate a result which is close to that derived from Landsat-8 TIR imagery.
Joan Antoni Parera-Portell, Raquel Ubach, and Charles Gignac
The Cryosphere, 15, 2803–2818, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2803-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2803-2021, 2021
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We describe a new method to map sea ice and water at 500 m resolution using data acquired by the MODIS sensors. The strength of this method is that it achieves high-accuracy results and is capable of attenuating unwanted resolution-breaking effects caused by cloud masking. Our resulting March and September monthly aggregates reflect the loss of sea ice in the European Arctic during the 2000–2019 period and show the algorithm's usefulness as a sea ice monitoring tool.
Robbie D. C. Mallett, Julienne C. Stroeve, Michel Tsamados, Jack C. Landy, Rosemary Willatt, Vishnu Nandan, and Glen E. Liston
The Cryosphere, 15, 2429–2450, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2429-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2429-2021, 2021
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We re-estimate pan-Arctic sea ice thickness (SIT) values by combining data from the Envisat and CryoSat-2 missions with data from a new, reanalysis-driven snow model. Because a decreasing amount of ice is being hidden below the waterline by the weight of overlying snow, we argue that SIT may be declining faster than previously calculated in some regions. Because the snow product varies from year to year, our new SIT calculations also display much more year-to-year variability.
Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen, Eero Rinne, Sinéad Louise Farrell, and Henriette Skourup
The Cryosphere, 15, 2511–2529, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2511-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2511-2021, 2021
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Ice navigators rely on timely information about ice conditions to ensure safe passage through ice-covered waters, and one parameter, the degree of ice ridging (DIR), is particularly useful. We have investigated the possibility of estimating DIR from the geolocated photons of ICESat-2 (IS2) in the Bay of Bothnia, show that IS2 retrievals from different DIR areas differ significantly, and present some of the first steps in creating sea ice applications beyond e.g. thickness retrieval.
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Short summary
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar can measure the total freeboard of sea ice but can be biased when radar signals penetrate snow and ice. We develop a new method to retrieve the total freeboard and analyze the regional variation of total freeboard and roughness in the Weddell and Ross seas. We also investigate the statistical behavior of the total freeboard for diverse ice types. The findings enhance the understanding of Antarctic sea ice topography and its dynamics in a changing climate.
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar can measure the total freeboard of sea ice but can be...
