CROSS VALIDATION OF IN SITU, AIRBORNE AND REMOTE SENSING DATA FROM EAST ANTARCTICA

• Main Authors: Pfaffling, A., Worby, A., Massom, R.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; aurora australis; East Antarctica; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/15398/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/15398/1/Pfa2006d.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.25546; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.25546.d001

Remote sensing of sea ice parameters plays a key role in polar research and climate change investigations. New sensors such as high resolution passive microwave scanners (AMSR-E) and visible/infrared radiometers (MODIS) provide new information from which, given appropriate algorithms, products including sea ice extent and concentration, snow thickness or ice temperature can be derived. These algorithms depend on approximations and assumptions, which have to be assessed in situ for quality control and/or to readjust the algorithms parameters. An Australian sea ice dedicated expedition in (austral) early spring 2003 to the East Antarctic marginal sea ice zone (RSV Aurora Australis, Voyage 1 - 2003/04) offered the opportunity for cross validation of diverse geophysical tools such as the AWIs helicopter-borne EM ice thickness profiler, as well as a helicopter-borne system containing a digital nadir looking camera combined with a thermal infrared radiometer, and remote sensing data from AMSR-E, SSM/I, MODIS, AVHRR, MISR, SAR, etc. satellite sensors. The airborne platforms could be precisely validated against ground truth data acquired on 13 ice stations and consequently could be used to validate remote sensing data.On two days during the expedition exceptionally good weather conditions with clear sky along several hundred kilometres provided a superb dataset. Flight tracks of altogether more than 500 km were profiled synoptically with the EM ice thickness platform and the aerial photography + IR radiometer system. Photography flights were carried out at 5000 feet altitude while EM bird was usually flown at around 100 ft allowing the EM operators to document the general ice conditions and take detailed geocoded digital pictures of the ice and snow conditions along the track, giving a ground truth dataset for the high altitude photos as well as structures found in satellite pictures.On both days near real time MODIS scenes containing the flight tracks were acquired and provide an excellent overview of the general ice ...