A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images
Using Copernicus Sentinel-2 images we derive a statistical lead-width distribution for the Weddell Sea. While previous work focused on the Arctic, this is the first lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice. Previous studies suggest that the lead-width distribution follows a power law with a pos...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:34b7e9c996d847e48d040d32a61a4858 2023-05-15T13:46:34+02:00 A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images M. Muchow A. U. Schmitt L. Kaleschke 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021 https://doaj.org/article/34b7e9c996d847e48d040d32a61a4858 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4527/2021/tc-15-4527-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/34b7e9c996d847e48d040d32a61a4858 The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 4527-4537 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021 2022-12-31T06:48:53Z Using Copernicus Sentinel-2 images we derive a statistical lead-width distribution for the Weddell Sea. While previous work focused on the Arctic, this is the first lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice. Previous studies suggest that the lead-width distribution follows a power law with a positive exponent; however their results for the power-law exponents are not all in agreement with each other. To detect leads we create a sea-ice surface-type classification based on 20 carefully selected cloud-free Sentinel-2 Level-1C products, which have a resolution of 10 m. The observed time period is from November 2016 until February 2018, covering only the months from November to April. We apply two different fitting methods to the measured lead widths. The first fitting method is a linear fit, while the second method is based on a maximum likelihood approach. Here, we use both methods for the same lead-width data set to observe differences in the calculated power-law exponent. To further investigate influences on the power-law exponent, we define two different thresholds: one for open-water-covered leads and one for open-water-covered and nilas-covered leads. The influence of the lead threshold on the exponent is larger for the linear fit than for the method based on the maximum likelihood approach. We show that the exponent of the lead-width distribution ranges between 1.110 and 1.413 depending on the applied fitting method and lead threshold. This exponent for the Weddell Sea sea ice is smaller than the previously observed exponents for the Arctic sea ice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Weddell Sea Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Antarctic Weddell Sea Weddell The Cryosphere 15 9 4527 4537 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 M. Muchow A. U. Schmitt L. Kaleschke A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Using Copernicus Sentinel-2 images we derive a statistical lead-width distribution for the Weddell Sea. While previous work focused on the Arctic, this is the first lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice. Previous studies suggest that the lead-width distribution follows a power law with a positive exponent; however their results for the power-law exponents are not all in agreement with each other. To detect leads we create a sea-ice surface-type classification based on 20 carefully selected cloud-free Sentinel-2 Level-1C products, which have a resolution of 10 m. The observed time period is from November 2016 until February 2018, covering only the months from November to April. We apply two different fitting methods to the measured lead widths. The first fitting method is a linear fit, while the second method is based on a maximum likelihood approach. Here, we use both methods for the same lead-width data set to observe differences in the calculated power-law exponent. To further investigate influences on the power-law exponent, we define two different thresholds: one for open-water-covered leads and one for open-water-covered and nilas-covered leads. The influence of the lead threshold on the exponent is larger for the linear fit than for the method based on the maximum likelihood approach. We show that the exponent of the lead-width distribution ranges between 1.110 and 1.413 depending on the applied fitting method and lead threshold. This exponent for the Weddell Sea sea ice is smaller than the previously observed exponents for the Arctic sea ice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Muchow A. U. Schmitt L. Kaleschke |
author_facet |
M. Muchow A. U. Schmitt L. Kaleschke |
author_sort |
M. Muchow |
title |
A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images |
title_short |
A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images |
title_full |
A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images |
title_fullStr |
A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images |
title_full_unstemmed |
A lead-width distribution for Antarctic sea ice: a case study for the Weddell Sea with high-resolution Sentinel-2 images |
title_sort |
lead-width distribution for antarctic sea ice: a case study for the weddell sea with high-resolution sentinel-2 images |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021 https://doaj.org/article/34b7e9c996d847e48d040d32a61a4858 |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic Weddell Sea Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic Weddell Sea Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Weddell Sea |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 4527-4537 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4527/2021/tc-15-4527-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/34b7e9c996d847e48d040d32a61a4858 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4527-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
4527 |
op_container_end_page |
4537 |
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1766244272343875584 |