Melt Detection in Antarctic Ice-Sheets Using

• Main Authors: Spaceborne Scatterometers, Lukas B. Kunz, David G. Long
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Austral; Shackleton; Amery; Antarc*; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.391.8887; http://www.mers.byu.edu/long/papers/conf/IGARSS2004_Kunz.pdf

Abstract — Backscatter measurements from the SeaWinds on QuikSCAT scatterometer are used to determine periods of surface freeze and melt on Antarctic ice-shelves. A maximum likelihood method is used to infer the daily ice-surface conditions for various study points located on the Ronne, Ross, Larsen, Fimbul, Amery, and Shackleton Ice-shelves. Criteria for determining the dates of melt-onset and freeze-up for each Austral summer are presented. Validation of the icestate and melt-onset date estimates is performed by analyzing the corresponding brightness temperature (Tb) measurements from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) radiometers. QuikSCAT σ o measurements from 1999 through 2003 are analyzed and found to be very useful for determining periods of melt in Antarctic ice-sheets and provide high temporal and spatial resolution ice-state estimates. I.