Response of passive microwave sea ice concentration algorithms to thin ice

• Published in: 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium
• Main Authors: Heygster, Georg, Huntemann, Marcus, Ivanova, Natalia, Saldo, Roberto, Pedersen, Leif Toudal
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2014
• Subjects: atmospheric radiation; radiometry; remote sensing; sea ice; Geoscience; Arctic; Brightness temperature; brightness temperatures; ESA SMOS sensor observations; L-band; Microwave frequencies; passive microwave; passive microwave observations; sea ice concentration retrieval; sea ice thickness; Sensitivity; Silicon carbide; SMOS; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/21d31046-c3e4-4e22-992c-5ad040422fcd; https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2014.6947266

The influence of sea ice thickness brightness temperatures and ice concentrations retrieved from passive microwave observations is quantified, using horizontally homogeneous sea ice thickness retrievals from ESA's SMOS sensor observations at high incidence angles. Brightness temperatures are influenced by thickness below 18 cm (89GHz) and 50 cm (1.4 GHz). Ice concentration retrievals reduced by ice thickness below 0.17 m and 0.33 m, with higher frequency algorithms being less influenced.