River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies
River ice is a key component of the cryosphere. Satellite monitoring of river ice is a rapidly developing area of scientific enquiry, which has wide-ranging implications for climate, environmental and socioeconomic applications. Spaceborne radar altimetry is widely used for monitoring river water re...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5387/2021/ |
id |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc90757 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc90757 2023-05-15T17:48:48+02:00 River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies Zakharova, Elena Agafonova, Svetlana Duguay, Claude Frolova, Natalia Kouraev, Alexei 2021-12-07 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5387/2021/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5387/2021/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2021 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 2021-12-13T17:22:30Z River ice is a key component of the cryosphere. Satellite monitoring of river ice is a rapidly developing area of scientific enquiry, which has wide-ranging implications for climate, environmental and socioeconomic applications. Spaceborne radar altimetry is widely used for monitoring river water regimes; however, its potential for the observation of river ice processes and properties has not been demonstrated yet. Using Ku-band backscatter measurements from the Jason-2 and Jason-3 satellite missions (2008–2019), we demonstrate the potential of radar altimetry for the retrieval of river ice phenology dates and ice thickness for the first time. The altimetric measurements were determined to be sensitive enough to detect the first appearance of ice and the beginning of thermal breakup on the lower Ob River (Western Siberia). The uncertainties in the retrieval of ice event timing were within the 10 d repeat cycle of Jason-2 and Jason-3 in 88 %–90 % of the cases analysed. The uncertainties in the river ice thickness retrievals made via empirical relations between the satellite backscatter measurements and in situ observations, expressed as the root mean square error (RMSE), were of 0.07–0.18 m. A novel application of radar altimetry is the prediction of ice bridge road operations, which is demonstrated herein. We established that the dates of ferry closing and ice road opening and closing in the city of Salekhard can be predicted with an accuracy (expressed as RMSE) of 3–5 d. Text ob river Siberia Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Salekhard ENVELOPE(66.602,66.602,66.530,66.530) The Cryosphere 15 12 5387 5407 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
River ice is a key component of the cryosphere. Satellite monitoring of river ice is a rapidly developing area of scientific enquiry, which has wide-ranging implications for climate, environmental and socioeconomic applications. Spaceborne radar altimetry is widely used for monitoring river water regimes; however, its potential for the observation of river ice processes and properties has not been demonstrated yet. Using Ku-band backscatter measurements from the Jason-2 and Jason-3 satellite missions (2008–2019), we demonstrate the potential of radar altimetry for the retrieval of river ice phenology dates and ice thickness for the first time. The altimetric measurements were determined to be sensitive enough to detect the first appearance of ice and the beginning of thermal breakup on the lower Ob River (Western Siberia). The uncertainties in the retrieval of ice event timing were within the 10 d repeat cycle of Jason-2 and Jason-3 in 88 %–90 % of the cases analysed. The uncertainties in the river ice thickness retrievals made via empirical relations between the satellite backscatter measurements and in situ observations, expressed as the root mean square error (RMSE), were of 0.07–0.18 m. A novel application of radar altimetry is the prediction of ice bridge road operations, which is demonstrated herein. We established that the dates of ferry closing and ice road opening and closing in the city of Salekhard can be predicted with an accuracy (expressed as RMSE) of 3–5 d. |
format |
Text |
author |
Zakharova, Elena Agafonova, Svetlana Duguay, Claude Frolova, Natalia Kouraev, Alexei |
spellingShingle |
Zakharova, Elena Agafonova, Svetlana Duguay, Claude Frolova, Natalia Kouraev, Alexei River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
author_facet |
Zakharova, Elena Agafonova, Svetlana Duguay, Claude Frolova, Natalia Kouraev, Alexei |
author_sort |
Zakharova, Elena |
title |
River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
title_short |
River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
title_full |
River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
title_fullStr |
River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
title_full_unstemmed |
River ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
title_sort |
river ice phenology and thickness from satellite altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate studies |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5387/2021/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(66.602,66.602,66.530,66.530) |
geographic |
Salekhard |
geographic_facet |
Salekhard |
genre |
ob river Siberia |
genre_facet |
ob river Siberia |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5387/2021/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
5387 |
op_container_end_page |
5407 |
_version_ |
1766154956353568768 |