| Summary: | The proposed research involves the application of multispectral satellite data in combination with ground truth measurements to monitor surface properties of the Greenland Ice Sheet which are essential for describing the energy and mass of the ice sheet. Several key components of the energy balance are parameterized using satellite data and in situ measurements. The analysis has been done for a 6 to 17 year time period in order to analyze the seasonal and interannual variations of the surface processes and the climatology. Our goal was to investigate to what accuracy and over what geographic areas large scale snow properties and radiative fluxes can be derived based upon a combination of available remote sensing and meteorological data sets. For the understanding of the surface processes a field program was designed to collect information on spectral albedo, specular reflectance, soot content, grain size and the physical properties of different snow types. Further, the radiative and turbulent fluxes at the ice/snow surface were monitored for the parameterization and interpretation of the satellite data. Highlights include AVHRR time series and surface based radiation measurements, passive microwave time series, and geodetic results from the ETH/CU camp.
|
|---|