Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica
The launch of Sentinel-3A in February 2016 represented the beginning of a new long-term series of operational satellite radar altimeters, which will provide Delay-Doppler altimetry measurements over ice sheets for decades to come. Given the potential benefits that these satellites can offer to a ran...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:36374435fadb438abe10206134341847 2023-05-15T13:43:54+02:00 Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica M. McMillan A. Muir A. Shepherd R. Escolà M. Roca J. Aublanc P. Thibaut M. Restano A. Ambrozio J. Benveniste 2019-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-709-2019 https://doaj.org/article/36374435fadb438abe10206134341847 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/709/2019/tc-13-709-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-709-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/36374435fadb438abe10206134341847 The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 709-722 (2019) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-709-2019 2022-12-31T13:29:27Z The launch of Sentinel-3A in February 2016 represented the beginning of a new long-term series of operational satellite radar altimeters, which will provide Delay-Doppler altimetry measurements over ice sheets for decades to come. Given the potential benefits that these satellites can offer to a range of glaciological applications, it is important to establish their capacity to monitor ice sheet elevation and elevation change. Here, we present the first analysis of Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over the Antarctic ice sheet, and assess the accuracy and precision of retrievals of ice sheet elevation across a range of topographic regimes. Over the low-slope regions of the ice sheet interior, we find that the instrument achieves both an accuracy and a precision of the order of 10 cm, with ∼98 % of the data validated being within 50 cm of co-located airborne measurements. Across the steeper and more complex topography of the ice sheet margin, the accuracy decreases, although analysis at two coastal sites with densely surveyed airborne campaigns shows that ∼60 %–85 % of validated data are still within 1 m of co-located airborne elevation measurements. We then explore the utility of the Sentinel-3A Delay-Doppler altimeter for mapping ice sheet elevation change. We show that with only 2 years of available data, it is possible to resolve known signals of ice dynamic imbalance and to detect evidence of subglacial lake drainage activity. Our analysis demonstrates a new, long-term source of measurements of ice sheet elevation and elevation change, and the early potential of this operational system for monitoring ice sheet imbalance for decades to come. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic The Sentinel ENVELOPE(73.317,73.317,-52.983,-52.983) The Cryosphere 13 2 709 722 |
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. McMillan A. Muir A. Shepherd R. Escolà M. Roca J. Aublanc P. Thibaut M. Restano A. Ambrozio J. Benveniste Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The launch of Sentinel-3A in February 2016 represented the beginning of a new long-term series of operational satellite radar altimeters, which will provide Delay-Doppler altimetry measurements over ice sheets for decades to come. Given the potential benefits that these satellites can offer to a range of glaciological applications, it is important to establish their capacity to monitor ice sheet elevation and elevation change. Here, we present the first analysis of Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over the Antarctic ice sheet, and assess the accuracy and precision of retrievals of ice sheet elevation across a range of topographic regimes. Over the low-slope regions of the ice sheet interior, we find that the instrument achieves both an accuracy and a precision of the order of 10 cm, with ∼98 % of the data validated being within 50 cm of co-located airborne measurements. Across the steeper and more complex topography of the ice sheet margin, the accuracy decreases, although analysis at two coastal sites with densely surveyed airborne campaigns shows that ∼60 %–85 % of validated data are still within 1 m of co-located airborne elevation measurements. We then explore the utility of the Sentinel-3A Delay-Doppler altimeter for mapping ice sheet elevation change. We show that with only 2 years of available data, it is possible to resolve known signals of ice dynamic imbalance and to detect evidence of subglacial lake drainage activity. Our analysis demonstrates a new, long-term source of measurements of ice sheet elevation and elevation change, and the early potential of this operational system for monitoring ice sheet imbalance for decades to come. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. McMillan A. Muir A. Shepherd R. Escolà M. Roca J. Aublanc P. Thibaut M. Restano A. Ambrozio J. Benveniste |
author_facet |
M. McMillan A. Muir A. Shepherd R. Escolà M. Roca J. Aublanc P. Thibaut M. Restano A. Ambrozio J. Benveniste |
author_sort |
M. McMillan |
title |
Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica |
title_short |
Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica |
title_full |
Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica |
title_sort |
sentinel-3 delay-doppler altimetry over antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-709-2019 https://doaj.org/article/36374435fadb438abe10206134341847 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(73.317,73.317,-52.983,-52.983) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic The Sentinel |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic The Sentinel |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 709-722 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/709/2019/tc-13-709-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-13-709-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/36374435fadb438abe10206134341847 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-709-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
709 |
op_container_end_page |
722 |
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1766194883716972544 |