Articles | Volume 19, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3033-2025
© Author(s) 2025. 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-19-3033-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Investigating the impact of reanalysis snow input on an observationally calibrated snow-on-sea-ice reconstruction
Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON M3H 5T4, Canada
Paul J. Kushner
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, Canada
Alek A. Petty
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
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Stephen Howell, Alex Cabaj, David Babb, Jack Landy, Jackie Dawson, Mallik Mahmud, and Mike Brady
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2029, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2029, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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The Northwest Passage provides a shorter transit route connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean but ever-present sea ice has prevented its practical navigation. Sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage on September 30, 2024 fell to a minimum of 4x103 km2, the lowest ice area observed since 1960. This paper describes the unique processes that contributed to the record low sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage in 2024.
Alek A. Petty, Nicole Keeney, Alex Cabaj, Paul Kushner, and Marco Bagnardi
The Cryosphere, 17, 127–156, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-127-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-127-2023, 2023
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We present upgrades to winter Arctic sea ice thickness estimates from NASA's ICESat-2. Our new thickness results show better agreement with independent data from ESA's CryoSat-2 compared to our first data release, as well as new, very strong comparisons with data collected by moorings in the Beaufort Sea. We analyse three winters of thickness data across the Arctic, including 50 cm thinning of the multiyear ice over this 3-year period.
Stephen Howell, Alex Cabaj, David Babb, Jack Landy, Jackie Dawson, Mallik Mahmud, and Mike Brady
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2029, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2029, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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The Northwest Passage provides a shorter transit route connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean but ever-present sea ice has prevented its practical navigation. Sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage on September 30, 2024 fell to a minimum of 4x103 km2, the lowest ice area observed since 1960. This paper describes the unique processes that contributed to the record low sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage in 2024.
Zhihong Zhuo, Xinyue Wang, Yunqian Zhu, Ewa M. Bednarz, Eric Fleming, Peter R. Colarco, Shingo Watanabe, David Plummer, Georgiy Stenchikov, William Randel, Adam Bourassa, Valentina Aquila, Takashi Sekiya, Mark R. Schoeberl, Simone Tilmes, Wandi Yu, Jun Zhang, Paul J. Kushner, and Francesco S. R. Pausata
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1505, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1505, 2025
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The 2022 Hunga eruption caused unprecedented stratospheric water injection, triggering unique atmospheric impacts. This study combines observations and model simulations, projecting a stratospheric water vapor anomaly lasting 4–7 years, with significant temperature variations and ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere lasting 7–10 years. These findings offer critical insights into the role of stratospheric water vapor in shaping climate and atmospheric chemistry.
Alek Aaron Petty, Christopher Cardinale, and Madison Smith
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-766, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-766, 2025
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We put global climate models to the test against NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite to see how well they simulate global sea ice cover. By adding fancy laser data from ICESat-2, we can better assess how well the models are performing compared to the standard assessments of sea ice area. Overall the models do a good job but there’s room for improvement, especially across the Southern Ocean. We should think a bit more about sea ice density if we want more reliable freeboard comparisons.
Siqi Liu, Shiming Xu, Wenkai Guo, Yanfei Fan, Lu Zhou, Jack Landy, Malin Johansson, Weixin Zhu, and Alek Petty
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1069, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1069, 2025
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In this study, we explore the potential of using synthetic aperture radars (SAR) to predict the sea ice height measurements by the airborne campaign of Operation IceBridge. In particular, we predict the meter-scale sea ice height with the statistical relationship between the two, overcoming the resolution limitation of SAR images from Sentinel-1 satellites. The prediction and ice drift correction algorithms can be applied to the extrapolation of ICESat-2 measurements in the Arctic region.
Youngmin Choi, Alek Petty, Denis Felikson, and Jonathan Poterjoy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-301, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-301, 2025
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In this study, we combined numerical models with satellite data using the ensemble Kalman filter to improve predictions of glacier states and their basal conditions. Simulations showed that adding more data enhances prediction accuracy. We also tested the effect of various data types and found that the high-resolution data improve model performance. This method could inform the design of better observation systems and refine future projections of ice sheet behavior.
Lawrence Mudryk, Colleen Mortimer, Chris Derksen, Aleksandra Elias Chereque, and Paul Kushner
The Cryosphere, 19, 201–218, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-201-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-201-2025, 2025
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We evaluate and rank 23 different datasets on their ability to accurately estimate historical snow amounts. The evaluation uses new a set of surface snow measurements with improved spatial coverage, enabling evaluation across both mountainous and nonmountainous regions. Performance measures vary tremendously across the products: while most perform reasonably in nonmountainous regions, accurate representation of snow amounts in mountainous regions and of historical trends is much more variable.
Aleksandra Elias Chereque, Paul J. Kushner, Lawrence Mudryk, Chris Derksen, and Colleen Mortimer
The Cryosphere, 18, 4955–4969, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4955-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4955-2024, 2024
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We look at three commonly used snow depth datasets that are produced through a combination of snow modelling and historical measurements (reanalysis). When compared with each other, these datasets have differences that arise for various reasons. We show that a simple snow model can be used to examine these inconsistencies and highlight issues. This method indicates that one of the complex datasets should be excluded from further studies.
Jack C. Landy, Claude de Rijke-Thomas, Carmen Nab, Isobel Lawrence, Isolde A. Glissenaar, Robbie D. C. Mallett, Renée M. Fredensborg Hansen, Alek Petty, Michel Tsamados, Amy R. Macfarlane, and Anne Braakmann-Folgmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2904, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2904, 2024
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In this study we use three satellites to test the planned remote sensing approach of the upcoming mission CRISTAL over sea ice: that its dual radars will accurately measure the heights of the top and base of snow sitting atop floating sea ice floes. Our results suggest that CRISTAL's dual radars won’t necessarily measure the snow top and base under all conditions. We find that accurate height measurements depend much more on surface roughness than on snow properties, as is commonly assumed.
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.
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.
Alek A. Petty, Nicole Keeney, Alex Cabaj, Paul Kushner, and Marco Bagnardi
The Cryosphere, 17, 127–156, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-127-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-127-2023, 2023
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We present upgrades to winter Arctic sea ice thickness estimates from NASA's ICESat-2. Our new thickness results show better agreement with independent data from ESA's CryoSat-2 compared to our first data release, as well as new, very strong comparisons with data collected by moorings in the Beaufort Sea. We analyse three winters of thickness data across the Arctic, including 50 cm thinning of the multiyear ice over this 3-year period.
Chih-Chun Chou, Paul J. Kushner, Stéphane Laroche, Zen Mariani, Peter Rodriguez, Stella Melo, and Christopher G. Fletcher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4443–4461, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4443-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4443-2022, 2022
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Aeolus is the first satellite that provides global wind profile measurements. The mission aims to improve the weather forecasts in the tropics, but also, potentially, in the polar regions. We evaluate the performance of the instrument over the Canadian North and the Arctic by comparing its measured winds in both cloudy and non-cloudy layers to wind data from forecasts, reanalysis, and ground-based instruments. Overall, good agreement was seen, but Aeolus winds have greater dispersion.
Ron Kwok, Alek A. Petty, Marco Bagnardi, Nathan T. Kurtz, Glenn F. Cunningham, Alvaro Ivanoff, and Sahra Kacimi
The Cryosphere, 15, 821–833, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-821-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-821-2021, 2021
Lu Zhou, Julienne Stroeve, Shiming Xu, Alek Petty, Rachel Tilling, Mai Winstrup, Philip Rostosky, Isobel R. Lawrence, Glen E. Liston, Andy Ridout, Michel Tsamados, and Vishnu Nandan
The Cryosphere, 15, 345–367, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-345-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-345-2021, 2021
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Snow on sea ice plays an important role in the Arctic climate system. Large spatial and temporal discrepancies among the eight snow depth products are analyzed together with their seasonal variability and long-term trends. These snow products are further compared against various ground-truth observations. More analyses on representation error of sea ice parameters are needed for systematic comparison and fusion of airborne, in situ and remote sensing observations.
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Short summary
The output of snow-on-sea-ice models is influenced by the choice of snowfall input used. We ran such a model with different snowfall inputs and calibrated it to observations, produced a new calibrated snow product, and regionally compared the model outputs to outputs from another snow-on-sea-ice model. The two models agree best on the seasonal cycle of snow in the central Arctic Ocean. Observational comparisons highlight ongoing challenges in estimating the depth and density of snow on Arctic sea ice.
The output of snow-on-sea-ice models is influenced by the choice of snowfall input used. We ran...