Articles | Volume 19, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3785-2025
© 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-19-3785-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
16 Sep 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 16 Sep 2025
| 16 Sep 2025
Drift-aware sea ice thickness maps from satellite remote sensing
Observing Systems, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Thomas Lavergne
Ocean Department, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway
Stefan Hendricks
Climate Sciences, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Stephan Paul
Climate Sciences, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Emily Down
Ocean Department, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway
Mari Anne Killie
Ocean Department, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway
Marion Bocquet
Observing Systems, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Related authors
Valentin Ludwig, Caroline Ribere, Sara Fleury, Christian Haas, Michel Tsamados, Mahmoud El Hajj, Jerome Bouffard, Michele Scagliola, Marion Bocquet, Eric de Boisseson, Vincent Boulenger, Guillaume Boutin, Laurence Connor, Léo Edel, Stefan Hendricks, Ferran Hernández Macià, Marcus Huntemann, Lars Kaleschke, Frank Kauker, Jack Landy, Tom Megain, Alek Petty, Till Soya Rasmussen, Mads Hvid Ribergaard, Robert Ricker, Axel Schweiger, Hoyeon Shi, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Donghui Yi, and Alessandro Di Bella
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6201, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6201, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper compares Arctic sea-ice thickness datasets from models, reanalyses, satellite-only, and multi-product sources. We validate them against Beaufort Sea reference data, compare large-scale products, and analyse time series. Cross-product biases range from 0.2–0.4 m, RMSDs from 0.4–0.9 m, and correlations from 0.5–0.8. We find no 2010–2023 trend, but 1995–2023 thinning of ~ 0.5 m in November and ~ 0.3 m in March.
Polona Itkin, Evgenii Salganik, Dmitry V. Divine, Arttu Jutila, Christian Katlein, Mara Neudert, Ian A. Raphael, and Robert Ricker
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6081, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6081, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how Arctic ice ridges grow and change through winter and spring using a sensor that measures ice thickness without drilling. By comparing these measurements with data from aircraft, underwater surveys, and field work, we show that the sensor can detect both the full ridge thickness and its solid inner core. Our results reveal slow winter strengthening of ridges and highlight this method's value for understanding ice conditions and ecosystems.
Anne Braakmann-Folgmann, Jack C. Landy, Geoffrey Dawson, and Robert Ricker
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2789, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2789, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To calculate sea ice thickness from altimetry, returns from ice and leads need to be differentiated. During summer, melt ponds complicate this task, as they resemble leads. In this study, we improve a previously suggested neural network classifier by expanding the training dataset fivefold, tuning the network architecture and introducing an additional class for thinned floes. We show that this increases the accuracy from 77 ± 5 % to 84 ± 2 % and that more leads are found.
Lars Kaleschke, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Stefan Hendricks, and Robert Ricker
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3149–3170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a sea ice thickness dataset based on SMOS satellite measurements, initially designed for the Arctic but adapted for Antarctica. We validated it using limited Antarctic measurements. Our findings show promising results, with a small difference in thickness estimation and a strong correlation with validation data within the valid thickness range. However, improvements and synergies with other sensors are needed, especially for sea ice thicker than 1 m.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Robert Ricker, Steven Fons, Arttu Jutila, Nils Hutter, Kyle Duncan, Sinead L. Farrell, Nathan T. Kurtz, and Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen
The Cryosphere, 17, 1411–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Information on sea ice surface topography is important for studies of sea ice as well as for ship navigation through ice. The ICESat-2 satellite senses the sea ice surface with six laser beams. To examine the accuracy of these measurements, we carried out a temporally coincident helicopter flight along the same ground track as the satellite and measured the sea ice surface topography with a laser scanner. This showed that ICESat-2 can see even bumps of only few meters in the sea ice cover.
Guillaume Boutin, Einar Ólason, Pierre Rampal, Heather Regan, Camille Lique, Claude Talandier, Laurent Brodeau, and Robert Ricker
The Cryosphere, 17, 617–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice cover in the Arctic is full of cracks, which we call leads. We suspect that these leads play a role for atmosphere–ocean interactions in polar regions, but their importance remains challenging to estimate. We use a new ocean–sea ice model with an original way of representing sea ice dynamics to estimate their impact on winter sea ice production. This model successfully represents sea ice evolution from 2000 to 2018, and we find that about 30 % of ice production takes place in leads.
Francesca Doglioni, Robert Ricker, Benjamin Rabe, Alexander Barth, Charles Troupin, and Torsten Kanzow
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 225–263, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-225-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-225-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new satellite-derived gridded dataset, including 10 years of sea surface height and geostrophic velocity at monthly resolution, over the Arctic ice-covered and ice-free regions, up to 88° N. We assess the dataset by comparison to independent satellite and mooring data. Results correlate well with independent satellite data at monthly timescales, and the geostrophic velocity fields can resolve seasonal to interannual variability of boundary currents wider than about 50 km.
Jinfei Wang, Chao Min, Robert Ricker, Qian Shi, Bo Han, Stefan Hendricks, Renhao Wu, and Qinghua Yang
The Cryosphere, 16, 4473–4490, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4473-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4473-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The differences between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness (SIT) reveal significant temporal and spatial variations. Our findings suggest that both overestimation of Envisat sea ice freeboard, potentially caused by radar backscatter originating from inside the snow layer, and the AMSR-E snow depth biases and sea ice density uncertainties can possibly account for the differences between Envisat and ICESat SIT.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
David N. Wagner, Matthew D. Shupe, Christopher Cox, Ola G. Persson, Taneil Uttal, Markus M. Frey, Amélie Kirchgaessner, Martin Schneebeli, Matthias Jaggi, Amy R. Macfarlane, Polona Itkin, Stefanie Arndt, Stefan Hendricks, Daniela Krampe, Marcel Nicolaus, Robert Ricker, Julia Regnery, Nikolai Kolabutin, Egor Shimanshuck, Marc Oggier, Ian Raphael, Julienne Stroeve, and Michael Lehning
The Cryosphere, 16, 2373–2402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Based on measurements of the snow cover over sea ice and atmospheric measurements, we estimate snowfall and snow accumulation for the MOSAiC ice floe, between November 2019 and May 2020. For this period, we estimate 98–114 mm of precipitation. We suggest that about 34 mm of snow water equivalent accumulated until the end of April 2020 and that at least about 50 % of the precipitated snow was eroded or sublimated. Further, we suggest explanations for potential snowfall overestimation.
Klaus Dethloff, Wieslaw Maslowski, Stefan Hendricks, Younjoo J. Lee, Helge F. Goessling, Thomas Krumpen, Christian Haas, Dörthe Handorf, Robert Ricker, Vladimir Bessonov, John J. Cassano, Jaclyn Clement Kinney, Robert Osinski, Markus Rex, Annette Rinke, Julia Sokolova, and Anja Sommerfeld
The Cryosphere, 16, 981–1005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice thickness anomalies during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) winter in January, February and March 2020 were simulated with the coupled Regional Arctic climate System Model (RASM) and compared with CryoSat-2/SMOS satellite data. Hindcast and ensemble simulations indicate that the sea ice anomalies are driven by nonlinear interactions between ice growth processes and wind-driven sea-ice transports, with dynamics playing a dominant role.
Arttu Jutila, Stefan Hendricks, Robert Ricker, Luisa von Albedyll, Thomas Krumpen, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 16, 259–275, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-259-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-259-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Sea-ice thickness retrieval from satellite altimeters relies on assumed sea-ice density values because density cannot be measured from space. We derived bulk densities for different ice types using airborne laser, radar, and electromagnetic induction sounding measurements. Compared to previous studies, we found high bulk density values due to ice deformation and younger ice cover. Using sea-ice freeboard, we derived a sea-ice bulk density parameterisation that can be applied to satellite data.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Francesca Doglioni, Robert Ricker, Benjamin Rabe, and Torsten Kanzow
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-170, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new satellite-derived gridded dataset of sea surface height and geostrophic velocity, over the Arctic ice-covered and ice-free regions up to 88° N. The dataset includes velocities north of 82° N, which were not available before. We assess the dataset by comparison to one independent satellite dataset and to independent mooring data. Results show that the geostrophic velocity fields can resolve seasonal to interannual variability of boundary currents wider than about 50 km.
José Abraham Torres Alavez, Ruth Mottram, Thomas Lavergne, Rasmus Pedersen, and Ole Bøssing Christensen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6183, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6183, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
Coastal polynyas shape sea ice production and polar climate. This study analyses Greenland and Antarctic polynyas using two satellite sea-ice products and HCLIM simulations. The high-resolution CCI dataset improves polynya representation, boundary-layer structure, and near-surface conditions. Results show that integrating high-resolution sea-ice data enhances regional climate modelling and supports better reanalysis systems.
Valentin Ludwig, Caroline Ribere, Sara Fleury, Christian Haas, Michel Tsamados, Mahmoud El Hajj, Jerome Bouffard, Michele Scagliola, Marion Bocquet, Eric de Boisseson, Vincent Boulenger, Guillaume Boutin, Laurence Connor, Léo Edel, Stefan Hendricks, Ferran Hernández Macià, Marcus Huntemann, Lars Kaleschke, Frank Kauker, Jack Landy, Tom Megain, Alek Petty, Till Soya Rasmussen, Mads Hvid Ribergaard, Robert Ricker, Axel Schweiger, Hoyeon Shi, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Donghui Yi, and Alessandro Di Bella
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6201, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6201, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper compares Arctic sea-ice thickness datasets from models, reanalyses, satellite-only, and multi-product sources. We validate them against Beaufort Sea reference data, compare large-scale products, and analyse time series. Cross-product biases range from 0.2–0.4 m, RMSDs from 0.4–0.9 m, and correlations from 0.5–0.8. We find no 2010–2023 trend, but 1995–2023 thinning of ~ 0.5 m in November and ~ 0.3 m in March.
Andreas Wernecke, Thomas Lavergne, Stefan Kern, and Dirk Notz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6234, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6234, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
We analyse the types and size of uncertainties in satellite measurements of the global sea ice cover. These measurements give insights into the state of the climate system and quality of climate models. We derive uncertainties for one satellite product and compare it with other products. We find that offsets do play a role for measurements of the total sea ice cover, but also for estimates of its change. This calls for further investigations into the product development.
Polona Itkin, Evgenii Salganik, Dmitry V. Divine, Arttu Jutila, Christian Katlein, Mara Neudert, Ian A. Raphael, and Robert Ricker
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6081, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6081, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how Arctic ice ridges grow and change through winter and spring using a sensor that measures ice thickness without drilling. By comparing these measurements with data from aircraft, underwater surveys, and field work, we show that the sensor can detect both the full ridge thickness and its solid inner core. Our results reveal slow winter strengthening of ridges and highlight this method's value for understanding ice conditions and ecosystems.
Cyril Palerme, Johannes Röhrs, Thomas Lavergne, Jozef Rusin, Are Frode Kvanum, Atle Macdonald Sørensen, Arne Melsom, Julien Brajard, Martina Idžanović, Marina Durán Moro, and Malte Müller
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 9751–9766, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-9751-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-9751-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present MET-AICE, a sea ice prediction system based on artificial intelligence techniques that has been running operationally since March 2024. The forecasts are produced daily and provide sea ice concentration predictions for the next 10 days. We evaluate the MET-AICE forecasts from the first year of operation, and we compare them to forecasts produced by three physically-based models. We show that MET-AICE is skillful and provides more accurate forecasts than the physically-based models.
Anton Korosov, Léo Edel, Heather Regan, Thomas Lavergne, Emily Jane Down, and Signe Aaboe
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-477, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-477, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new long-term record of Arctic sea ice age spanning from 1991 to 2024. Using satellite data and a new tracking method, it maps fractions of sea ice from first- to sixth-year and includes uncertainty estimates. The dataset shows a decline in older ice and more first-year ice, it agrees well with buoy data, and supports Arctic monitoring, climate research, navigation, and model evaluation.
Anne Braakmann-Folgmann, Jack C. Landy, Geoffrey Dawson, and Robert Ricker
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2789, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2789, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To calculate sea ice thickness from altimetry, returns from ice and leads need to be differentiated. During summer, melt ponds complicate this task, as they resemble leads. In this study, we improve a previously suggested neural network classifier by expanding the training dataset fivefold, tuning the network architecture and introducing an additional class for thinned floes. We show that this increases the accuracy from 77 ± 5 % to 84 ± 2 % and that more leads are found.
Lena Happ, Sonali Patil, Stefan Hendricks, Riccardo Fellegara, Lars Kaleschke, and Andreas Gerndt
ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., X-G-2025, 333–340, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-333-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-333-2025, 2025
Ida Birgitte Lundtorp Olsen, Henriette Skourup, Heidi Sallila, Stefan Hendricks, Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen, Stefan Kern, Stephan Paul, Marion Bocquet, Sara Fleury, Dmitry Divine, and Eero Rinne
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-234, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-234, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
Discover the latest advancements in sea ice research with our comprehensive Climate Change Initiative (CCI) sea ice thickness (SIT) Round Robin Data Package (RRDP). This pioneering collection contains reference measurements from 1960 to 2022 from airborne sensors, buoys, visual observations and sonar and covers the polar regions from 1993 to 2021, providing crucial reference measurements for validating satellite-derived sea ice thickness.
Karina von Schuckmann, Lorena Moreira, Mathilde Cancet, Flora Gues, Emmanuelle Autret, Jonathan Baker, Clément Bricaud, Romain Bourdalle-Badie, Lluis Castrillo, Lijing Cheng, Frederic Chevallier, Daniele Ciani, Alvaro de Pascual-Collar, Vincenzo De Toma, Marie Drevillon, Claudia Fanelli, Gilles Garric, Marion Gehlen, Rianne Giesen, Kevin Hodges, Doroteaciro Iovino, Simon Jandt-Scheelke, Eric Jansen, Melanie Juza, Ioanna Karagali, Thomas Lavergne, Simona Masina, Ronan McAdam, Audrey Minière, Helen Morrison, Tabea Rebekka Panteleit, Andrea Pisano, Marie-Isabelle Pujol, Ad Stoffelen, Sulian Thual, Simon Van Gennip, Pierre Veillard, Chunxue Yang, and Hao Zuo
State Planet, 4-osr8, 1, https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-4-osr8-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-4-osr8-1-2024, 2024
Lars Kaleschke, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Stefan Hendricks, and Robert Ricker
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3149–3170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a sea ice thickness dataset based on SMOS satellite measurements, initially designed for the Arctic but adapted for Antarctica. We validated it using limited Antarctic measurements. Our findings show promising results, with a small difference in thickness estimation and a strong correlation with validation data within the valid thickness range. However, improvements and synergies with other sensors are needed, especially for sea ice thicker than 1 m.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Cyril Palerme, Thomas Lavergne, Jozef Rusin, Arne Melsom, Julien Brajard, Are Frode Kvanum, Atle Macdonald Sørensen, Laurent Bertino, and Malte Müller
The Cryosphere, 18, 2161–2176, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2161-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2161-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice forecasts are operationally produced using physically based models, but these forecasts are often not accurate enough for maritime operations. In this study, we developed a statistical correction technique using machine learning in order to improve the skill of short-term (up to 10 d) sea ice concentration forecasts produced by the TOPAZ4 model. This technique allows for the reduction of errors from the TOPAZ4 sea ice concentration forecasts by 41 % on average.
Marina Durán Moro, Ann Kristin Sperrevik, Thomas Lavergne, Laurent Bertino, Yvonne Gusdal, Silje Christine Iversen, and Jozef Rusin
The Cryosphere, 18, 1597–1619, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1597-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1597-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Individual satellite passes instead of daily means of sea ice concentration are used to correct the sea ice model forecast in the Barents Sea. The use of passes provides a significantly larger improvement of the forecasts even after a 7 d period due to the more precise information on temporal and spatial variability contained in the passes. One major advantage of the use of satellite passes is that there is no need to wait for the daily mean availability in order to update the forecast.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Thomas Lavergne and Emily Down
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5807–5834, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5807-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5807-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic can move several tens of kilometers per day due to wind and ocean currents. By analysing thousands of satellite images, we measured how sea ice has been moving every single day from 1991 through to 2020. We compare our data to how buoys attached to the ice moved and find good agreement. Other scientists will now use our data to better understand if climate change has modified the way sea ice moves and in what way.
Johannes Röhrs, Yvonne Gusdal, Edel S. U. Rikardsen, Marina Durán Moro, Jostein Brændshøi, Nils Melsom Kristensen, Sindre Fritzner, Keguang Wang, Ann Kristin Sperrevik, Martina Idžanović, Thomas Lavergne, Jens Boldingh Debernard, and Kai H. Christensen
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 5401–5426, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5401-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5401-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A model to predict ocean currents, temperature, and sea ice is presented, covering the Barents Sea and northern Norway. To quantify forecast uncertainties, the model calculates ensemble forecasts with 24 realizations of ocean and ice conditions. Observations from satellites, buoys, and ships are ingested by the model. The model forecasts are compared with observations, and we show that the ocean model has skill in predicting sea surface temperatures.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Karina von Schuckmann, Audrey Minière, Flora Gues, Francisco José Cuesta-Valero, Gottfried Kirchengast, Susheel Adusumilli, Fiammetta Straneo, Michaël Ablain, Richard P. Allan, Paul M. Barker, Hugo Beltrami, Alejandro Blazquez, Tim Boyer, Lijing Cheng, John Church, Damien Desbruyeres, Han Dolman, Catia M. Domingues, Almudena García-García, Donata Giglio, John E. Gilson, Maximilian Gorfer, Leopold Haimberger, Maria Z. Hakuba, Stefan Hendricks, Shigeki Hosoda, Gregory C. Johnson, Rachel Killick, Brian King, Nicolas Kolodziejczyk, Anton Korosov, Gerhard Krinner, Mikael Kuusela, Felix W. Landerer, Moritz Langer, Thomas Lavergne, Isobel Lawrence, Yuehua Li, John Lyman, Florence Marti, Ben Marzeion, Michael Mayer, Andrew H. MacDougall, Trevor McDougall, Didier Paolo Monselesan, Jan Nitzbon, Inès Otosaka, Jian Peng, Sarah Purkey, Dean Roemmich, Kanako Sato, Katsunari Sato, Abhishek Savita, Axel Schweiger, Andrew Shepherd, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Leon Simons, Donald A. Slater, Thomas Slater, Andrea K. Steiner, Toshio Suga, Tanguy Szekely, Wim Thiery, Mary-Louise Timmermans, Inne Vanderkelen, Susan E. Wjiffels, Tonghua Wu, and Michael Zemp
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1675–1709, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's climate is out of energy balance, and this study quantifies how much heat has consequently accumulated over the past decades (ocean: 89 %, land: 6 %, cryosphere: 4 %, atmosphere: 1 %). Since 1971, this accumulated heat reached record values at an increasing pace. The Earth heat inventory provides a comprehensive view on the status and expectation of global warming, and we call for an implementation of this global climate indicator into the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake.
Robert Ricker, Steven Fons, Arttu Jutila, Nils Hutter, Kyle Duncan, Sinead L. Farrell, Nathan T. Kurtz, and Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen
The Cryosphere, 17, 1411–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Information on sea ice surface topography is important for studies of sea ice as well as for ship navigation through ice. The ICESat-2 satellite senses the sea ice surface with six laser beams. To examine the accuracy of these measurements, we carried out a temporally coincident helicopter flight along the same ground track as the satellite and measured the sea ice surface topography with a laser scanner. This showed that ICESat-2 can see even bumps of only few meters in the sea ice cover.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Guillaume Boutin, Einar Ólason, Pierre Rampal, Heather Regan, Camille Lique, Claude Talandier, Laurent Brodeau, and Robert Ricker
The Cryosphere, 17, 617–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-617-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice cover in the Arctic is full of cracks, which we call leads. We suspect that these leads play a role for atmosphere–ocean interactions in polar regions, but their importance remains challenging to estimate. We use a new ocean–sea ice model with an original way of representing sea ice dynamics to estimate their impact on winter sea ice production. This model successfully represents sea ice evolution from 2000 to 2018, and we find that about 30 % of ice production takes place in leads.
Francesca Doglioni, Robert Ricker, Benjamin Rabe, Alexander Barth, Charles Troupin, and Torsten Kanzow
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 225–263, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-225-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-225-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new satellite-derived gridded dataset, including 10 years of sea surface height and geostrophic velocity at monthly resolution, over the Arctic ice-covered and ice-free regions, up to 88° N. We assess the dataset by comparison to independent satellite and mooring data. Results correlate well with independent satellite data at monthly timescales, and the geostrophic velocity fields can resolve seasonal to interannual variability of boundary currents wider than about 50 km.
Jinfei Wang, Chao Min, Robert Ricker, Qian Shi, Bo Han, Stefan Hendricks, Renhao Wu, and Qinghua Yang
The Cryosphere, 16, 4473–4490, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4473-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4473-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The differences between Envisat and ICESat sea ice thickness (SIT) reveal significant temporal and spatial variations. Our findings suggest that both overestimation of Envisat sea ice freeboard, potentially caused by radar backscatter originating from inside the snow layer, and the AMSR-E snow depth biases and sea ice density uncertainties can possibly account for the differences between Envisat and ICESat SIT.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
David N. Wagner, Matthew D. Shupe, Christopher Cox, Ola G. Persson, Taneil Uttal, Markus M. Frey, Amélie Kirchgaessner, Martin Schneebeli, Matthias Jaggi, Amy R. Macfarlane, Polona Itkin, Stefanie Arndt, Stefan Hendricks, Daniela Krampe, Marcel Nicolaus, Robert Ricker, Julia Regnery, Nikolai Kolabutin, Egor Shimanshuck, Marc Oggier, Ian Raphael, Julienne Stroeve, and Michael Lehning
The Cryosphere, 16, 2373–2402, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2373-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Based on measurements of the snow cover over sea ice and atmospheric measurements, we estimate snowfall and snow accumulation for the MOSAiC ice floe, between November 2019 and May 2020. For this period, we estimate 98–114 mm of precipitation. We suggest that about 34 mm of snow water equivalent accumulated until the end of April 2020 and that at least about 50 % of the precipitated snow was eroded or sublimated. Further, we suggest explanations for potential snowfall overestimation.
Klaus Dethloff, Wieslaw Maslowski, Stefan Hendricks, Younjoo J. Lee, Helge F. Goessling, Thomas Krumpen, Christian Haas, Dörthe Handorf, Robert Ricker, Vladimir Bessonov, John J. Cassano, Jaclyn Clement Kinney, Robert Osinski, Markus Rex, Annette Rinke, Julia Sokolova, and Anja Sommerfeld
The Cryosphere, 16, 981–1005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice thickness anomalies during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) winter in January, February and March 2020 were simulated with the coupled Regional Arctic climate System Model (RASM) and compared with CryoSat-2/SMOS satellite data. Hindcast and ensemble simulations indicate that the sea ice anomalies are driven by nonlinear interactions between ice growth processes and wind-driven sea-ice transports, with dynamics playing a dominant role.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Arttu Jutila, Stefan Hendricks, Robert Ricker, Luisa von Albedyll, Thomas Krumpen, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 16, 259–275, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-259-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-259-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Sea-ice thickness retrieval from satellite altimeters relies on assumed sea-ice density values because density cannot be measured from space. We derived bulk densities for different ice types using airborne laser, radar, and electromagnetic induction sounding measurements. Compared to previous studies, we found high bulk density values due to ice deformation and younger ice cover. Using sea-ice freeboard, we derived a sea-ice bulk density parameterisation that can be applied to satellite data.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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).
H. Jakob Belter, Thomas Krumpen, Luisa von Albedyll, Tatiana A. Alekseeva, Gerit Birnbaum, Sergei V. Frolov, Stefan Hendricks, Andreas Herber, Igor Polyakov, Ian Raphael, Robert Ricker, Sergei S. Serovetnikov, Melinda Webster, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 15, 2575–2591, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2575-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2575-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Summer sea ice thickness observations based on electromagnetic induction measurements north of Fram Strait show a 20 % reduction in mean and modal ice thickness from 2001–2020. The observed variability is caused by changes in drift speeds and consequential variations in sea ice age and number of freezing-degree days. Increased ocean heat fluxes measured upstream in the source regions of Arctic ice seem to precondition ice thickness, which is potentially still measurable more than a year later.
Francesca Doglioni, Robert Ricker, Benjamin Rabe, and Torsten Kanzow
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-170, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new satellite-derived gridded dataset of sea surface height and geostrophic velocity, over the Arctic ice-covered and ice-free regions up to 88° N. The dataset includes velocities north of 82° N, which were not available before. We assess the dataset by comparison to one independent satellite dataset and to independent mooring data. Results show that the geostrophic velocity fields can resolve seasonal to interannual variability of boundary currents wider than about 50 km.
Cited articles
Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project: Mooring data, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in collaboration with researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Institute of Ocean Sciences [data set], https://www2.whoi.edu/site/beaufortgyre/data/mooring-data/, last access: 20 January 2025.
Bocquet, M., Fleury, S., Rémy, F., and Piras, F.: Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Thickness and Volume Changes From Observations Between 1994 and 2023, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 129, e2023JC020848, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JC020848, 2024. a
Brodzik, M. J., Billingsley, B., Haran, T., Raup, B., and Savoie, M. H.: EASE-Grid 2.0: Incremental but Significant Improvements for Earth-Gridded Data Sets, ISPRS Int. Geo-Inf., 1, 32–45, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi1010032, 2012. a
Comiso, J. C., Parkinson, C. L., Gersten, R., and Stock, L.: Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031972, 2008. a
Farrell, S. L., Duncan, K., Buckley, E. M., Richter-Menge, J., and Li, R.: Mapping Sea Ice Surface Topography in High Fidelity With ICESat-2, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL090708, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090708, 2020. a
Felden, J., Möller, L., Schindler, U., Huber, R., Schumacher, S., Koppe, R., Diepenbroek, M., and Glöckner, F. O.: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science, Sci. Data, 10, 347, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02269-x, 2023.
Fredensborg Hansen, R. M., Skourup, H., Rinne, E., Høyland, K. V., Landy, J. C., Merkouriadi, I., and Forsberg, R.: Arctic Freeboard and Snow Depth From Near-Coincident CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 (CRYO2ICE) Observations: A First Examination of Winter Sea Ice During 2020–2022, Earth Space Sci., 11, e2023EA003313, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EA003313, 2024. a
Gregory, W., Lawrence, I. R., and Tsamados, M.: A Bayesian approach towards daily pan-Arctic sea ice freeboard estimates from combined CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3 satellite observations, The Cryosphere, 15, 2857–2871, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2857-2021, 2021. a
Haas, C., Lobach, J., Hendricks, S., Rabenstein, L., and Pfaffling, A.: Helicopter-borne measurements of sea ice thickness, using a small and lightweight, digital EM system, J. Appl. Geophys., 67, 234–241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2008.05.005, 2009. a
Hansen, E., Gerland, S., Granskog, M. A., Pavlova, O., Renner, A. H. H., Haapala, J., Løyning, T. B., and Tschudi, M.: Thinning of Arctic sea ice observed in Fram Strait: 1990–2011, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 118, 5202–5221, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrc.20393, 2013. a
Hendricks, S., Paul, S., and Rinne, E.: ESA Sea Ice Climate Change Initiative (Sea_Ice_cci): Northern hemisphere sea ice thickness from CryoSat-2 on the satellite swath (L2P), v3.0. NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/c6504378f78c4ecd9f839b0434023eff/ (last access: 2 September 2025), 2024a. a
Hendricks, S., Paul, S., and Rinne, E.: ESA Sea Ice Climate Change Initiative (Sea_Ice_cci): Northern hemisphere sea ice thickness from Envisat on the satellite swath (L2P), v3.0. NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/92eb2ba942074bec804af6a8b5436bee/ (last access: 2 September 2025), 2024b. a
Heorton, H., Tsamados, M., Landy, J., and Holland, P. R.: Observationally constrained estimates of the annual Arctic sea-ice volume budget 2010–2022, Ann. Glaciol., 66, e9, https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2025.3, 2025. a
Howell, S. E. L., Brady, M., and Komarov, A. S.: Generating large-scale sea ice motion from Sentinel-1 and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission using the Environment and Climate Change Canada automated sea ice tracking system, The Cryosphere, 16, 1125–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1125-2022, 2022. a
International Arctic Buoy Programme: 3-hourly buoy data [data set], https://iabp.apl.washington.edu/Data_Products/BUOY_DATA/3HOURLY_DATA/, last access: 20 January 2025a.
International Arctic Buoy Programme: Hourly buoy data [data set], https://iabp.apl.uw.edu/WebData/LEVEL2/, last access: 20 January 2025b.
Jutila, A., Hendricks, S., Ricker, R., von Albedyll, L., and Haas, C.: Airborne sea ice parameters during the IceBird Winter 2019 campaign in the Arctic Ocean, Version 2, PANGAEA [data set], https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.966057, 2024.
Kern, M., Cullen, R., Berruti, B., Bouffard, J., Casal, T., Drinkwater, M. R., Gabriele, A., Lecuyot, A., Ludwig, M., Midthassel, R., Navas Traver, I., Parrinello, T., Ressler, G., Andersson, E., Martin-Puig, C., Andersen, O., Bartsch, A., Farrell, S., Fleury, S., Gascoin, S., Guillot, A., Humbert, A., Rinne, E., Shepherd, A., van den Broeke, M. R., and Yackel, J.: The Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) high-priority candidate mission, The Cryosphere, 14, 2235–2251, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2235-2020, 2020. a
Khvorostovsky, K., Hendricks, S., and Rinne, E.: Surface Properties Linked to Retrieval Uncertainty of Satellite Sea-Ice Thickness with Upward-Looking Sonar Measurements, Remote Sens., 12, 3094, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12183094, 2020. a
Krishfield, R. A., Proshutinsky, A., Tateyama, K., Williams, W. J., Carmack, E. C., McLaughlin, F. A., and Timmermans, M.-L.: Deterioration of perennial sea ice in the Beaufort Gyre from 2003 to 2012 and its impact on the oceanic freshwater cycle, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 119, 1271–1305, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JC008999, 2014. a, b
Kwok, R., Cunningham, G. F., and Pang, S. S.: Fram Strait sea ice outflow, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 109, C01009, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JC001785, 2004. a
Kwok, R., Spreen, G., and Pang, S.: Arctic sea ice circulation and drift speed: Decadal trends and ocean currents, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 118, 2408–2425, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrc.20191, 2013. a
Landrum, L. and Holland, M. M.: Extremes become routine in an emerging new Arctic, Nat. Clim. Change, 10, 1108–1115, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0892-z, 2020. a
Lavergne, T. and Down, E.: A climate data record of year-round global sea-ice drift from the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5807–5834, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5807-2023, 2023. a, b, c
Lavergne, T., Sørensen, A. M., Kern, S., Tonboe, R., Notz, D., Aaboe, S., Bell, L., Dybkjær, G., Eastwood, S., Gabarro, C., Heygster, G., Killie, M. A., Brandt Kreiner, M., Lavelle, J., Saldo, R., Sandven, S., and Pedersen, L. T.: Version 2 of the EUMETSAT OSI SAF and ESA CCI sea-ice concentration climate data records, The Cryosphere, 13, 49–78, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-49-2019, 2019. a
Lavergne, T., Piñol Solé, M., Down, E., and Donlon, C.: Towards a swath-to-swath sea-ice drift product for the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer mission, The Cryosphere, 15, 3681–3698, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3681-2021, 2021. a
Lavergne, T., Kern, S., Aaboe, S., Derby, L., Dybkjaer, G., Garric, G., Heil, P., Hendricks, S., Holfort, J., Howell, S., Key, J., Lieser, J. L., Maksym, T., Maslowski, W., Meier, W., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Özsoy, B., Rabe, B., Rack, W., Raphael, M., de Rosnay, P., Smolyanitsky, V., Tietsche, S., Ukita, J., Vichi, M., Wagner, P., Willmes, S., and Zhao, X.: A New Structure for the Sea Ice Essential Climate Variables of the Global Climate Observing System, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103, E1502–E1521, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0227.1, 2022. a
Lavergne, T., Sørensen, A., Tonboe, R., Strong, C., Kreiner, M., Saldo, R., Birkedal, A., Baordo, F., Rusin, J., Aspenes, T., and Eastwood, S.: Monitoring of Sea Ice Concentration, Area, and Extent in the polar regions : 40+ years of data from EUMETSAT OSI SAF and ESA CCI, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10014535, 2023. a
Laxon, S. W., Giles, K. A., Ridout, A. L., Wingham, D. J., Willatt, R., Cullen, R., Kwok, R., Schweiger, A., Zhang, J., Haas, C., Hendricks, S., Krishfield, R., Kurtz, N., Farrell, S., and Davidson, M.: CryoSat-2 estimates of Arctic sea ice thickness and volume, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 732–737, https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50193, 2013. a
Lindsay, R. and Schweiger, A.: Arctic sea ice thickness loss determined using subsurface, aircraft, and satellite observations, The Cryosphere, 9, 269–283, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-269-2015, 2015. a
Meier, W. N. and Stewart, J. S.: NSIDC Land, Ocean, Coast, Ice, and Sea Ice Region Masks, NSIDC Special Report 25, Boulder CO, USA, National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2023. a
OSI-405: OSI SAF Global Low Resolution Sea Ice Drift, OSI-405-c, EUMETSAT [data set], https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_OSI_NRT_2007, 2007. a
OSI-450-a: OSI SAF Global Sea Ice Concentration Climate Data Record 1978–2020 (v3.0, 2022), EUMETSAT [data set], https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_OSI_0013, 2022. a, b
OSI-455: OSI SAF Global Low Resolution Sea Ice Drift Data Record 1991–2020 (v1, 2022), EUMETSAT [data set], https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_OSI_0012, 2022. a, b
Paul, S., Hendricks, S., Ricker, R., Kern, S., and Rinne, E.: Empirical parametrization of Envisat freeboard retrieval of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice based on CryoSat-2: progress in the ESA Climate Change Initiative, The Cryosphere, 12, 2437–2460, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2437-2018, 2018. a, b
Paul, S., Hendricks, S., Rinne, E., and Sallila, H.: CCI+ Sea Ice ECV – Sea Ice Thickness Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD), Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10605840, 2024. a
Petty, A. A., Kurtz, N. T., Kwok, R., Markus, T., and Neumann, T. A.: Winter Arctic Sea Ice Thickness From ICESat-2 Freeboards, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 125, e2019JC015764, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015764, 2020. a
Pfaffling, A., Haas, C., and Reid, J. E.: Direct helicopter EM – Sea-ice thickness inversion assessed with synthetic and field data, Geophysics, 72, F127–F137, https://doi.org/10.1190/1.2732551, 2007. a
Polyakov, I. V., Pnyushkov, A. V., Alkire, M. B., Ashik, I. M., Baumann, T. M., Carmack, E. C., Goszczko, I., Guthrie, J., Ivanov, V. V., Kanzow, T., Krishfield, R., Kwok, R., Sundfjord, A., Morison, J., Rember, R., and Yulin, A.: Greater role for Atlantic inflows on sea-ice loss in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, Science, 356, 285–291, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aai8204, 2017. a
Ricker, R.: Drift-Awareness for Sea Ice Altimetry (DriftAware-SIAlt) (Version v100), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14732875, 2025a. a
Ricker, R.: Animated DA-SIT time series from 2019–2020, Zenodo [video], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14736322, 2025b. a
Ricker, R., Hendricks, S., Helm, V., Skourup, H., and Davidson, M.: Sensitivity of CryoSat-2 Arctic sea-ice freeboard and thickness on radar-waveform interpretation, The Cryosphere, 8, 1607–1622, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1607-2014, 2014. a, b, c
Ricker, R., Girard-Ardhuin, F., Krumpen, T., and Lique, C.: Satellite-derived sea ice export and its impact on Arctic ice mass balance, The Cryosphere, 12, 3017–3032, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3017-2018, 2018. a
Ricker, R., Kauker, F., Schweiger, A., Hendricks, S., Zhang, J., and Paul, S.: Evidence for an Increasing Role of Ocean Heat in Arctic Winter Sea Ice Growth, J. Climate, 34, 5215–5227, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0848.1, 2021. a
Ricker, R., Fons, S., Jutila, A., Hutter, N., Duncan, K., Farrell, S. L., Kurtz, N. T., and Fredensborg Hansen, R. M.: Linking scales of sea ice surface topography: evaluation of ICESat-2 measurements with coincident helicopter laser scanning during MOSAiC, The Cryosphere, 17, 1411–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1411-2023, 2023. a
Ricker, R., Lavergne, T., Hendricks, S., Paul, S., Down, E., Killie, M. A., and Bocquet, M.: Drift-aware sea ice thickness maps from satellite remote sensing (Version v100), Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14733132, 2025a. a
Ricker, R., Hendricks, S., and Haas, C.: Sea ice thickness datasets from airborne measurements 2007–2017, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17061879, 2025b.
Sallila, H., Farrell, S. L., McCurry, J., and Rinne, E.: Assessment of contemporary satellite sea ice thickness products for Arctic sea ice, The Cryosphere, 13, 1187–1213, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1187-2019, 2019. a
Selyuzhenok, V., Bashmachnikov, I., Ricker, R., Vesman, A., and Bobylev, L.: Sea ice volume variability and water temperature in the Greenland Sea, The Cryosphere, 14, 477–495, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-477-2020, 2020. a
Spreen, G., Kwok, R., and Menemenlis, D.: Trends in Arctic sea ice drift and role of wind forcing: 1992–2009, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048970, 2011. a
Sumata, H., Lavergne, T., Girard-Ardhuin, F., Kimura, N., Tschudi, M. A., Kauker, F., Karcher, M., and Gerdes, R.: An intercomparison of Arctic ice drift products to deduce uncertainty estimates, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 119, 4887–4921, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JC009724, 2014. a
Tian-Kunze, X., Kaleschke, L., Maaß, N., Mäkynen, M., Serra, N., Drusch, M., and Krumpen, T.: SMOS-derived thin sea ice thickness: algorithm baseline, product specifications and initial verification, The Cryosphere, 8, 997–1018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-997-2014, 2014. a
Tilling, R. L., Ridout, A., and Shepherd, A.: Estimating Arctic sea ice thickness and volume using CryoSat-2 radar altimeter data, Advances in Space Research, 62, 1203–1225, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.051, 2018. a
Virtanen, P., Gommers, R., Oliphant, T. E., Haberland, M., Reddy, T., Cournapeau, D., Burovski, E., Peterson, P., Weckesser, W., Bright, J., van der Walt, S. J., Brett, M., Wilson, J., Millman, K. J., Mayorov, N., Nelson, A. R. J., Jones, E., Kern, R., Larson, E., Carey, C. J., İlhan Polat, Feng, Y., Moore, E. W., VanderPlas, J., Laxalde, D., Perktold, J., Cimrman, R., Henriksen, I., Quintero, E. A., Harris, C. R., Archibald, A. M., Ribeiro, A. H., Pedregosa, F., van Mulbregt, P., Vijaykumar, A., Bardelli, A. P., Rothberg, A., Hilboll, A., Kloeckner, A., Scopatz, A., Lee, A., Rokem, A., Woods, C. N., Fulton, C., Masson, C., Häggström, C., Fitzgerald, C., Nicholson, D. A., Hagen, D. R., Pasechnik, D. V., Olivetti, E., Martin, E., Wieser, E., Silva, F., Lenders, F., Wilhelm, F., Young, G., Price, G. A., Ingold, G.-L., Allen, G. E., Lee, G. R., Audren, H., Probst, I., Dietrich, J. P., Silterra, J., Webber, J. T., Slavič, J., Nothman, J., Buchner, J., Kulick, J., Schönberger, J. L., de Miranda Cardoso, J. V., Reimer, J., Harrington, J., Rodríguez, J. L. C., Nunez-Iglesias, J., Kuczynski, J., Tritz, K., Thoma, M., Newville, M., Kümmerer, M., Bolingbroke, M., Tartre, M., Pak, M., Smith, N. J., Nowaczyk, N., Shebanov, N., Pavlyk, O., Brodtkorb, P. A., Lee, P., McGibbon, R. T., Feldbauer, R., Lewis, S., Tygier, S., Sievert, S., Vigna, S., Peterson, S., More, S., Pudlik, T., Oshima, T., Pingel, T. J., Robitaille, T. P., Spura, T., Jones, T. R., Cera, T., Leslie, T., Zito, T., Krauss, T., Upadhyay, U., Halchenko, Y. O., Vázquez-Baeza, Y., and Contributors, S.: SciPy 1.0: Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python, Nature Methods, 17, 261–272, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0686-2, 2020. a, b, c
Zhang, F., Pang, X., Lei, R., Zhai, M., Zhao, X., and Cai, Q.: Arctic sea ice motion change and response to atmospheric forcing between 1979 and 2019, Int. J. Climatol., 42, 1854–1876, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7340, 2022. a
Co-editor-in-chief
This manuscript presents a significant step forward in presenting a new method to combine extensive satellite data (ice thickness retrievals from radar altimetry in this case) that were accumulated over a long time of one month. As the sea ice can move several hundred kilometers during this time period, averaging data without correcting for drift can significantly blur the results. With the new method, only data that have remained in the same sea ice regime are averaged.
The method has received widespread attention, and the audience in the recent ESA Living Planet Symposium mentioned and recognized this work during the public discussion. The community is aware of this work and I am convinced that numerous data providers will implement the method shortly.
This manuscript presents a significant step forward in presenting a new method to combine...
Short summary
We developed a new method to map Arctic sea ice thickness daily using satellite measurements. We address a problem similar to motion blur in photography. Traditional methods collect satellite data over 1 month to get a full picture of Arctic sea ice thickness. But in the same way as in photos of moving objects, long exposure leads to motion blur, making it difficult to identify certain features in the sea ice maps. Our method corrects for this motion blur, providing a sharper view of the evolving sea ice.
We developed a new method to map Arctic sea ice thickness daily using satellite measurements. We...
