Articles | Volume 20, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2331-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2331-2026
Research article
 | 
23 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 23 Apr 2026

Estimating Arctic sea ice thickness from satellite-based ice history

Noriaki Kimura and Hiroyasu Hasumi

Related authors

Rectification and validation of a daily satellite-derived Antarctic sea ice velocity product
Tian R. Tian, Alexander D. Fraser, Noriaki Kimura, Chen Zhao, and Petra Heil
The Cryosphere, 16, 1299–1314, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1299-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1299-2022, 2022
Short summary

Cited articles

Belter, H. J., Janout, M. A., Hölemann, J. A., and Krumpen, T.: Daily mean sea ice draft from moored upward-looking Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) in the Laptev Sea from 2003 to 2016, PANGAEA [data set], https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.912927, 2020. 
Belter, H. J., Krumpen, T., Janout, M. A., Ross, E., and Haas, C.: An Adaptive Approach to Derive Sea Ice Draft from Upward-Looking Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), Validated by Upward-Looking Sonar (ULS) Data, Remote Sens., 13, 4335, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214335, 2021. 
Bocquet, M., Fleury, S., Piras, F., Rinne, E., Sallila, H., Garnier, F., and Rémy, F.: Arctic sea ice radar freeboard retrieval from the European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS-2) using altimetry: toward sea ice thickness observation from 1995 to 2021, The Cryosphere, 17, 3013–3039, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3013-2023, 2023. 
Bourke, R. H. and Garrett, R. P.: Sea ice thickness distribution in the Arctic Ocean, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 13, 259–280, https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-232X(87)90007-3, 1987. 
Comiso, J. C.: Enhanced sea ice concentrations and ice extents from AMSR-E data, J. Remote Sens. Soc. Jpn., 29, 199–215, https://doi.org/10.11440/rssj.29.199, 2009. 
Download
Short summary
Measuring sea ice thickness is difficult using satellite data, but it is crucial for understanding climate change. This study introduces a new method that estimates ice thickness by tracking where and when sea ice formed and calculating how much it likely grew based on daily weather conditions. The results agreed well with underwater measurements. This method helps map ice thickness across the Arctic and may support estimates of other hard-to-measure sea ice features.
Share