Observing Antarctic Marginal Ice Zones with Satellite Altimetry Synergy – A Case Study of Indian Ocean Sector during July, 2017

• Main Author: Xu, S.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Amundsen Sea; Antarctic; Indian; Riiser-Larsen; Riiser-Larsen Sea; The Antarctic; Weddell; Antarc*; ice pack; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5020601

Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) is an integral part of the Antarctic sea ice and associated with intensive air-ice-ocean interactions. Wave-affected MIZs form due to the wind wave/swell propagation into the ice pack, the ice breaking, the intensified ocean mixing, as well as the potential positive feedbacks on the sea ice cover. However, great challenges exist for the satellite-based observation of MIZs, mainly due to the small temporal and spatial scales of the MIZs. In this talk we introduce recent advances in remote sensing of MIZs with radar altimeters. The retrieval of circumpolar Antarctic MIZs is carried out through the synergy of multiple satellite campaigns, with 2017-July as the sample period of study. We show that, the wave-affected MIZ can be effectively retrieved with radar altimeters, and the synergy of multiple campaigns greatly improves the temporal and spatial representation of the MIZ retrievals. Hot-spots of MIZs are revealed around the Antarctic, especially in the Indian Sector (around Weddell/Riiser-Larsen Sea) and the Ross/Amundsen Sea. Related topics, including validation with in-situ campaigns and the quantification of swell attenuation in the MIZ, are also discussed.