Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice
The outflow of supercooled Ice Shelf Water from the conjoined Ross and McMurdo ice shelf cavity augments fast ice thickness and forms a thick sub-ice platelet layer in McMurdo Sound. Here, we investigate whether the CryoSat-2 satellite radar altimeter can detect the higher freeboard caused by the th...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tcd90065 2023-05-15T13:31:39+02:00 Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice Brett, Gemma M. Price, Daniel Rack, Wolfgang Langhorne, Patricia J. 2020-10-22 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-286 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-286/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-2020-286 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-286/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2020 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-286 2020-10-26T17:22:13Z The outflow of supercooled Ice Shelf Water from the conjoined Ross and McMurdo ice shelf cavity augments fast ice thickness and forms a thick sub-ice platelet layer in McMurdo Sound. Here, we investigate whether the CryoSat-2 satellite radar altimeter can detect the higher freeboard caused by the thicker fast ice and the buoyant forcing of the sub-ice platelet layer beneath. Freeboards obtained from CryoSat-2 were compared with four years of drill hole measured sea ice freeboard, snow depth, and sea ice and sub-ice platelet layer thicknesses in McMurdo Sound in November of 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The spatial distribution of higher CryoSat-2 freeboard concurred with the distributions of thicker ice shelf-influenced fast ice and the sub-ice platelet layer. The mean CryoSat-2 freeboard was 0.07–0.09 m higher over the main path of supercooled Ice Shelf Water outflow, in the centre of the sound, relative to the west and east. In this central region, the mean CryoSat-2 derived ice thickness was 35 % larger than the mean drill hole measured fast ice thickness. We attribute this overestimate in satellite altimeter obtained ice thickness to the additional buoyant forcing of the sub-ice platelet layer. We demonstrate the capability of CryoSat-2 to detect higher Ice Shelf Water influenced fast ice freeboard in McMurdo Sound and the wider application of this method as a potential tool to identify regions of ice shelf-influenced fast ice elsewhere on the Antarctic coastline. Text Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Sea ice Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic McMurdo Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) McMurdo Sound The Antarctic |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The outflow of supercooled Ice Shelf Water from the conjoined Ross and McMurdo ice shelf cavity augments fast ice thickness and forms a thick sub-ice platelet layer in McMurdo Sound. Here, we investigate whether the CryoSat-2 satellite radar altimeter can detect the higher freeboard caused by the thicker fast ice and the buoyant forcing of the sub-ice platelet layer beneath. Freeboards obtained from CryoSat-2 were compared with four years of drill hole measured sea ice freeboard, snow depth, and sea ice and sub-ice platelet layer thicknesses in McMurdo Sound in November of 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The spatial distribution of higher CryoSat-2 freeboard concurred with the distributions of thicker ice shelf-influenced fast ice and the sub-ice platelet layer. The mean CryoSat-2 freeboard was 0.07–0.09 m higher over the main path of supercooled Ice Shelf Water outflow, in the centre of the sound, relative to the west and east. In this central region, the mean CryoSat-2 derived ice thickness was 35 % larger than the mean drill hole measured fast ice thickness. We attribute this overestimate in satellite altimeter obtained ice thickness to the additional buoyant forcing of the sub-ice platelet layer. We demonstrate the capability of CryoSat-2 to detect higher Ice Shelf Water influenced fast ice freeboard in McMurdo Sound and the wider application of this method as a potential tool to identify regions of ice shelf-influenced fast ice elsewhere on the Antarctic coastline. |
format |
Text |
author |
Brett, Gemma M. Price, Daniel Rack, Wolfgang Langhorne, Patricia J. |
spellingShingle |
Brett, Gemma M. Price, Daniel Rack, Wolfgang Langhorne, Patricia J. Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
author_facet |
Brett, Gemma M. Price, Daniel Rack, Wolfgang Langhorne, Patricia J. |
author_sort |
Brett, Gemma M. |
title |
Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
title_short |
Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
title_full |
Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
title_fullStr |
Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
title_sort |
satellite altimetry detection of ice shelf-influenced fast ice |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-286 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-286/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf McMurdo Ice Shelf McMurdo Sound Sea ice |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-2020-286 https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2020-286/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-286 |
_version_ |
1766019770362101760 |