Winter Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice and Sea Ice Thickness (2003-2020) from AMSR and AVHRR measurements
Abstract
Accurate retrievals of snow depth on sea ice from satellite radiometer measurements are challenging, especially over multiyear sea ice (MYI). In this study, winter basin-scale snow depth on Arctic sea ice is estimated using two physically-based algorithms: (i) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) 2 total freeboard retrieval algorithm developed by Lee et al. (2021) and (ii) the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-AMSR2 snow-ice thickness ratio estimation method suggested by Shi et al. (2020). Good agreement between snow depth on Arctic sea ice from this research and Operational IceBridge snow radar observations demonstrates that a reliable Arctic basin-scale snow depth can be estimated from satellite radiometer measurements. Using these algorithms the estimated basin-averaged snow depth on sea ice was found to be ~30% thinner than the modified Warren et al. (1999) (i.e., mW99) values during winter months. The overall trends in snow depth appeared less distinct than the regional trends during the study period (2003-2020). However, the snow depth distribution had undergone large regional variations over this period. Positive trends in snow depth were found over MYI (~0.6 cm/yr on average) and negative trends over the first-year ice (FYI) and ice type transition areas (~ -0.4 cm/yr on average). These trends are comparable to the snow depth trends obtained using SnowModel-LG. In addition to trends, this study provides improved Arctic basin-scale sea ice thickness estimates from the retrieved snow depth records in conjunction with total freeboard data from AMSR2. References: Lee, S.-M., Meier, W. N., Sohn B.-J., Shi, H., & Gasiewski, A. J. (2020). Estimation of Arctic basin-scale sea ice thickness from satellite passive microwave measurements, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, https://doi.org/TGRS.2020.3026949. Shi, H., Sohn, B.-J., Dybkjær, G., Tonboe, R. T., & Lee, S.-M. (2020). Simultaneous estimation of wintertime sea ice thickness and snow depth from space-borne freeboard measurements. The Cryosphere, 14, 3761-3783. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3761-2020
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFM.C35H0984L