Sea ice thickness from CryoSat2
Abstract
Arctic sea ice has undergone major changes in recent years but there remains much uncertainty about its ultimate fate, in particular the timing of an ice-free Arctic in summer. Although satellite measurements of ice extent are well-established, wide-area measurements of sea ice thickness are key to understanding the fate of Arctic sea ice cover in the future. Satellite altimeters can provide direct measurements of sea ice freeboard from which sea ice thickness can be calculated. We present the first data on sea ice thickness from Cryosat-2, validated by in situ and aircraft data. We describe the primary uncertainties for sea ice thickness retrieval, and outline strategies for addressing these in the future.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.C41A0374L
- Keywords:
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- 0750 CRYOSPHERE / Sea ice;
- 1240 GEODESY AND GRAVITY / Satellite geodesy: results;
- 4207 OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL / Arctic and Antarctic oceanography;
- 9315 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION / Arctic region