Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature
Antarctic surface snowmelt is sensitive to the polar climate. The ascending and descending passes of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System Sensor (AMSR-E) observed the Antarctic ice sheet in the afternoon (the warmest period) and at midnight (a cold period), enabling...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2072-4292/10/9/1391/ 2023-08-20T04:02:14+02:00 Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature Lei Zheng Chunxia Zhou Ruixi Liu Qizhen Sun agris 2018-08-31 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10091391 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs10091391 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Remote Sensing; Volume 10; Issue 9; Pages: 1391 Antarctica snowmelt AMSR-E MEMLS Text 2018 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10091391 2023-07-31T21:42:19Z Antarctic surface snowmelt is sensitive to the polar climate. The ascending and descending passes of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System Sensor (AMSR-E) observed the Antarctic ice sheet in the afternoon (the warmest period) and at midnight (a cold period), enabling us to make full use of the diurnal amplitude variations (DAV) in brightness temperature (Tb) to detect snowmelt. The DAV in vertically polarized 36.5 GHz Tb (DAV36V) is extremely sensitive to liquid water and can reduce the effects of the structural changes in snowpacks during melt seasons. A set of controlled experiments based on the microwave emission model of layered snow (MEMLS) were conducted to study the changes of the vertically polarized 36.5 GHz Tb (Δ36V) during the transitions from dry to wet snow regimes. Results of the experiments suggest that 9 K can be used as a DAV36V threshold to recognize snowmelt. The analyses of snowmelt suggest that the Antarctic ice sheet began to melt in November and became almost completely frozen in late March of the following year. The total cumulative melt area from 2002 to 2011 was 2.44 × 106 km2, i.e., 17.58% of the Antarctic ice sheet. The annual cumulative melt area showed considerable fluctuations, with a significant (above 90% confidence level) drop of 5.24 × 104 km2/year in the short term. Persistent snowmelt (i.e., melt that continues for at least three days) detected by AMSR-E and hourly air temperatures (Tair) were very consistent. Though melt seasons became longer in the western Antarctic Peninsula and the Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica was subjected to considerable decreases in duration and melting days in stable melt areas, i.e., −0.64 and −0.81 days/year, respectively. Surface snowmelt in Antarctica decreased temporally and spatially from 2002 to 2011. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Shackleton Ice Shelf MDPI Open Access Publishing Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Shackleton Shackleton Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(100.504,100.504,-65.996,-65.996) Remote Sensing 10 9 1391 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica snowmelt AMSR-E MEMLS |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica snowmelt AMSR-E MEMLS Lei Zheng Chunxia Zhou Ruixi Liu Qizhen Sun Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature |
topic_facet |
Antarctica snowmelt AMSR-E MEMLS |
description |
Antarctic surface snowmelt is sensitive to the polar climate. The ascending and descending passes of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System Sensor (AMSR-E) observed the Antarctic ice sheet in the afternoon (the warmest period) and at midnight (a cold period), enabling us to make full use of the diurnal amplitude variations (DAV) in brightness temperature (Tb) to detect snowmelt. The DAV in vertically polarized 36.5 GHz Tb (DAV36V) is extremely sensitive to liquid water and can reduce the effects of the structural changes in snowpacks during melt seasons. A set of controlled experiments based on the microwave emission model of layered snow (MEMLS) were conducted to study the changes of the vertically polarized 36.5 GHz Tb (Δ36V) during the transitions from dry to wet snow regimes. Results of the experiments suggest that 9 K can be used as a DAV36V threshold to recognize snowmelt. The analyses of snowmelt suggest that the Antarctic ice sheet began to melt in November and became almost completely frozen in late March of the following year. The total cumulative melt area from 2002 to 2011 was 2.44 × 106 km2, i.e., 17.58% of the Antarctic ice sheet. The annual cumulative melt area showed considerable fluctuations, with a significant (above 90% confidence level) drop of 5.24 × 104 km2/year in the short term. Persistent snowmelt (i.e., melt that continues for at least three days) detected by AMSR-E and hourly air temperatures (Tair) were very consistent. Though melt seasons became longer in the western Antarctic Peninsula and the Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica was subjected to considerable decreases in duration and melting days in stable melt areas, i.e., −0.64 and −0.81 days/year, respectively. Surface snowmelt in Antarctica decreased temporally and spatially from 2002 to 2011. |
format |
Text |
author |
Lei Zheng Chunxia Zhou Ruixi Liu Qizhen Sun |
author_facet |
Lei Zheng Chunxia Zhou Ruixi Liu Qizhen Sun |
author_sort |
Lei Zheng |
title |
Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature |
title_short |
Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature |
title_full |
Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic Snowmelt Detected by Diurnal Variations of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature |
title_sort |
antarctic snowmelt detected by diurnal variations of amsr-e brightness temperature |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10091391 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(100.504,100.504,-65.996,-65.996) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Shackleton Shackleton Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Shackleton Shackleton Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Shackleton Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Shackleton Ice Shelf |
op_source |
Remote Sensing; Volume 10; Issue 9; Pages: 1391 |
op_relation |
Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs10091391 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10091391 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1391 |
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1774712615440744448 |