Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery
The North Water (NOW) Polynya is a regularly-forming area of open-water and thin-ice, located between northwestern Greenland and Ellesmere Island (Canada) at the northern tip of Baffin Bay. Due to its large spatial extent, it is of high importance for a variety of physical and biological processes,...
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Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/1/remotesensing-07-15807.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807 |
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:31462 2023-05-15T15:35:03+02:00 Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery Preußer, Andreas Heinemann, Günther Willmes, Sascha Paul, Stephan 2015 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/1/remotesensing-07-15807.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807 en eng MDPI https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/1/remotesensing-07-15807.pdf Preußer, A., Heinemann, G., Willmes, S. and Paul, S. (2015) Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery. Open Access Remote Sensing, 7 (12). pp. 15844-15867. DOI 10.3390/rs71215807 <https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807>. doi:10.3390/rs71215807 cc_by_3.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807 2023-04-07T15:23:44Z The North Water (NOW) Polynya is a regularly-forming area of open-water and thin-ice, located between northwestern Greenland and Ellesmere Island (Canada) at the northern tip of Baffin Bay. Due to its large spatial extent, it is of high importance for a variety of physical and biological processes, especially in wintertime. Here, we present a long-term remote sensing study for the winter seasons 1978/1979 to 2014/2015. Polynya characteristics are inferred from (1) sea ice concentrations and brightness temperatures from passive microwave satellite sensors (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E and AMSR2), Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSM/I-SSMIS)) and (2) thin-ice thickness distributions, which are calculated using MODIS ice-surface temperatures and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric reanalysis data in a 1D thermodynamic energy-balance model. Daily ice production rates are retrieved for each winter season from 2002/2003 to 2014/2015, assuming that all heat loss at the ice surface is balanced by ice growth. Two different cloud-cover correction schemes are applied on daily polynya area and ice production values to account for cloud gaps in the MODIS composites. Our results indicate that the NOW polynya experienced significant seasonal changes over the last three decades considering the overall frequency of polynya occurrences, as well as their spatial extent. In the 1980s, there were prolonged periods of a more or less closed ice cover in northern Baffin Bay in winter. This changed towards an average opening on more than 85% of the days between November and March during the last decade. Noticeably, the sea ice cover in the NOW polynya region shows signs of a later-appearing fall freeze-up, starting in the late 1990s. Different methods to obtain daily polynya area using passive microwave AMSR-E/AMSR2 data and SSM/I-SSMIS data were applied. A comparison with MODIS data (thin-ice thickness ≤ 20 cm) shows that ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Ellesmere Island Greenland Sea ice OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Baffin Bay Canada Ellesmere Island Greenland Remote Sensing 7 12 15844 15867 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
The North Water (NOW) Polynya is a regularly-forming area of open-water and thin-ice, located between northwestern Greenland and Ellesmere Island (Canada) at the northern tip of Baffin Bay. Due to its large spatial extent, it is of high importance for a variety of physical and biological processes, especially in wintertime. Here, we present a long-term remote sensing study for the winter seasons 1978/1979 to 2014/2015. Polynya characteristics are inferred from (1) sea ice concentrations and brightness temperatures from passive microwave satellite sensors (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E and AMSR2), Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSM/I-SSMIS)) and (2) thin-ice thickness distributions, which are calculated using MODIS ice-surface temperatures and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric reanalysis data in a 1D thermodynamic energy-balance model. Daily ice production rates are retrieved for each winter season from 2002/2003 to 2014/2015, assuming that all heat loss at the ice surface is balanced by ice growth. Two different cloud-cover correction schemes are applied on daily polynya area and ice production values to account for cloud gaps in the MODIS composites. Our results indicate that the NOW polynya experienced significant seasonal changes over the last three decades considering the overall frequency of polynya occurrences, as well as their spatial extent. In the 1980s, there were prolonged periods of a more or less closed ice cover in northern Baffin Bay in winter. This changed towards an average opening on more than 85% of the days between November and March during the last decade. Noticeably, the sea ice cover in the NOW polynya region shows signs of a later-appearing fall freeze-up, starting in the late 1990s. Different methods to obtain daily polynya area using passive microwave AMSR-E/AMSR2 data and SSM/I-SSMIS data were applied. A comparison with MODIS data (thin-ice thickness ≤ 20 cm) shows that ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Preußer, Andreas Heinemann, Günther Willmes, Sascha Paul, Stephan |
spellingShingle |
Preußer, Andreas Heinemann, Günther Willmes, Sascha Paul, Stephan Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery |
author_facet |
Preußer, Andreas Heinemann, Günther Willmes, Sascha Paul, Stephan |
author_sort |
Preußer, Andreas |
title |
Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery |
title_short |
Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery |
title_full |
Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery |
title_fullStr |
Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery |
title_sort |
multi-decadal variability of polynya characteristics and ice production in the north water polynya by means of passive microwave and thermal infrared satellite imagery |
publisher |
MDPI |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/1/remotesensing-07-15807.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807 |
geographic |
Baffin Bay Canada Ellesmere Island Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Baffin Bay Canada Ellesmere Island Greenland |
genre |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Ellesmere Island Greenland Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Ellesmere Island Greenland Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31462/1/remotesensing-07-15807.pdf Preußer, A., Heinemann, G., Willmes, S. and Paul, S. (2015) Multi-Decadal Variability of Polynya Characteristics and Ice Production in the North Water Polynya by Means of Passive Microwave and Thermal Infrared Satellite Imagery. Open Access Remote Sensing, 7 (12). pp. 15844-15867. DOI 10.3390/rs71215807 <https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807>. doi:10.3390/rs71215807 |
op_rights |
cc_by_3.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215807 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
12 |
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15844 |
op_container_end_page |
15867 |
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1766365355384504320 |