Sea ice thickness and volume from CryoSat-2
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 describe the CryoSat mission and present the first two full winters of data on sea ice thickness from Cryosat-2, validated using in-situ and aircraft data. We then calculate ice volume from CryoSat-2 and compare with earlier estimates from ICESat laser altimetry and current estimates of the PIOMAS sea ice model.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.C54A..04L
- Keywords:
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- 0750 CRYOSPHERE / Sea ice;
- 1241 GEODESY AND GRAVITY / Satellite geodesy: technical issues;
- 1621 GLOBAL CHANGE / Cryospheric change;
- 9315 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION / Arctic region