An Assessment of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Products at the NSIDC DAAC

Sea ice coverage and variability are predominately studied using satellite data. Because of substantial cloud cover and long periods of darkness during polar winters, passive microwave instruments are most commonly used. Passive microwave sensors have evolved from the early Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR), with one spectral band, to the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), each of which provides multiple spectral bands and higher resolution than ESMR instruments. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) instrument aboard NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite will offer a sea ice concentration product with unprecedented spatial resolution. The AMSR-E improves upon SMMR and SSM/I with its greater spatial resolution and with its combination of both low and high frequency spectral channels. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) archives sea ice data beginning with ESMR in 1973 through today's SSM/I products. We will archive and distribute sea ice data from AMSR-E in 2003. The capabilities and limitations of the passive microwave instruments will be highlighted in several comparisons between the existing and future sea ice products from NSIDC. In addition to the data we support, numerous tools and ancillary products have stemmed from the data currently available. Various products will be demonstrated in the context of cryospheric research, namely sea ice applications.