Spatiotemporal variation of ice sheet melting in the Antarctic coastal marginal zone and the influence of ice lenses and rain using satellite microwave observation

• Published in: Polar Science
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Antarctica; Ice sheet; Melting; Rain on snow; Microwave observation; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Syowa Station; Antarc*; Ice Sheet; Polar Science
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=16071; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00015952/

This study uses satellite microwave observations to examine the spatiotemporal variations of melting ice sheets on the slopes of Antarctica. These observations were focused on the coastal marginal zone and inland traverse route near Syowa Station. Melting was detected using a 36 GHz vertical polarization diurnal amplitude variation (DAV). Data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) and AMSR2 during 2002–2011 and 2012–2017, respectively, showed DAV variations over time. It was estimated that the greatest melting extent occurred during the 2003/2004 summer; the DAV rose even in the inland areas. In contrast, DAV decreased during rain periods, which was reported by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 2004 and 2012. This is due to the rise in nighttime brightness temperature (TB). whereas the signal from rain was limited to the lower area. Coastal zones showed a low TB. The low coastal emissions may be attributed to the refrozen ice lenses under the coastal snow layers. The DAV can be significant as the contrast between daytime and nighttime increases from this low TB zone.