Antarctic sea-ice freeboard retrieval using CryoSat-2: possibilities, limitations, uncertainties
The sea-ice thickness distribution is one of the most important sea-ice properties, but also one of the less frequently observed ones so far. Presently, sea-ice thickness observations are mainly based on freeboard measurements by means of satellite laser and radar altimetry, e.g. from ICESat and Cry...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Conference Object |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/37542/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45173 |
| Summary: | The sea-ice thickness distribution is one of the most important sea-ice properties, but also one of the less frequently observed ones so far. Presently, sea-ice thickness observations are mainly based on freeboard measurements by means of satellite laser and radar altimetry, e.g. from ICESat and CryoSat-2. However, sea-ice thickness products have only been developed for the Arctic, such that the knowledge about Antarctic sea-ice volume and its variability is sparse. Within the ESA Climate Change Initiative project on Antarctic sea-ice thickness distribution, the potential of CryoSat-2 data for the development of an Antarctic sea-ice thickness product is investigated. It is discussed which temporal and spatial resolution would be appropriate for such a product and which uncertainties can be expected due to e.g. the complicated snow distribution on Antarctic sea ice. Results are compared to sea-ice thicknesses derived by Envisat RA-2 in order to detect differences in both data products and to determine the uncertainties based on the usage of different sensors. |
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