Iceberg influence on snow distribution and slush formation on Antarctic landfast sea ice from airborne multi-sensor observations

Franke, Steven; Neudert, Mara; Helm, Veit; Jutila, Arttu; Hames, Océane; Neckel, Niklas; Arndt, Stefanie; Haas, Christian

doi:10.5194/tc-19-6319-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6319-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6319-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 11

Research article

|

28 Nov 2025

Research article |

| 28 Nov 2025

Iceberg influence on snow distribution and slush formation on Antarctic landfast sea ice from airborne multi-sensor observations

Steven Franke, Mara Neudert, Veit Helm, Arttu Jutila, Océane Hames, Niklas Neckel, Stefanie Arndt, and Christian Haas

Data sets

ANT 2022/23: AWI airborne ultra-wideband microwave radar data over Atka Bay's iceberg-laden landfast sea ice, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica (ANTSI Project) [dataset] C. Haas et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.981151

Snow depth and snow-base backscatter intensity from AWI's airborne UWBM quad-polarized radar over Atka Bay (December 2022; ANTSI Project) S. Franke et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.987055

Near-infrared radiation from AWI MACS images over Atka Bay landfast sea ice (East Antarctica) during the ANTSI campaign acquired on December 5, 2022 N. Neckel et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.982716

AWI airborne laserscanner (ALS) data products over Atka Bay landfast sea ice (East Antarctica) during the ANTSI campaign acquired on December 5, 2022 V. Helm et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.982610

GEM-2 ice and platelet total thickness measurements from the 2022-2023 AFIN summer campaign M. Neudert and S. Arndt https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.968041

Thickness and properties of sea ice and snow of land-fast sea ice in Atka Bay in November and December 2022 M. Neudert and S. Arndt https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.968459

Short summary

Our research explored how icebergs affect the distribution of snow and flooding on Antarctic coastal sea ice. Using aircraft-based radar and laser scanning, we found that icebergs create thick snow drifts on their wind-facing sides and leave snow-free zones in their lee. The weight of these snow drifts often causes the ice below to flood, forming slush. These patterns, driven by wind and iceberg placement, are crucial for understanding sea ice changes and improving climate models.