Comparison Between Surface Melt Estimation From Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar and a Regional Climate Model. Case Study Over the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

• Published in: Bulletin de la Société Géographique de Liège
• Main Authors: Dethinne, Thomas, Glaude, Quentin, Amory, Charles, Kittel, Christoph, Fettweis, Xavier
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Société Geographique de Liege 2022
• Subjects: SAR; MAR; ice shelf; melt; Antarctica; RBIS; Sentinel-1; Physical; chemical; mathematical & earth Sciences; Earth sciences & physical geography; Physique; chimie; mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Sciences de la terre & géographie physique; Antarc*; East Antarctica; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/266302; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/266302/1/11dethinne.pdf; https://doi.org/10.25518/0770-7576.6644

peer reviewed Antarctica is the largest potential contributor to sea-level rise and needs to be monitored. It is also one of the first victims of global warming. However, it is often difficult to obtain high-resolution data on this vast and distant continent. Thanks to the Copernicus space program providing free and open access to high-quality data, this paper aims to show the complementarity between Sentinel-1 images and Modèle Atmosphérique régional (MAR) data over Antarctica. This study is conducted over Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf. The complementarity between the two datasets is established by a quantitative, temporal, and spatial comparison of the amplitude information of the radar signal and several variables modelled by MAR. Comparisons show strong spatial correlations between MAR variables representing melt and the backscatter coefficient recorded by the satellite. While temporal and quantitative analyses also give impressive results, further investigations are required to explain contrasting behaviors in other different areas of the ice shelf.