Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014
The timing and intensity of snowmelt processes on sea ice are key drivers determining the seasonal sea-ice energy and mass budgets. In the Arctic, satellite passive microwave and radar observations have revealed a trend towards an earlier snowmelt onset during the last decades, which is an important...
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ftpangaea:oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 2023-05-15T14:04:58+02:00 Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 Arndt, Stefanie Haas, Christian MEDIAN LATITUDE: -71.036056 * MEDIAN LONGITUDE: -93.553760 * SOUTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -75.739670 * WEST-BOUND LONGITUDE: 151.460010 * NORTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -67.279200 * EAST-BOUND LONGITUDE: -36.060430 2019-07-01 text/tab-separated-values, 4822 data points https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 en eng PANGAEA Arndt, Stefanie; Haas, Christian (2019): Spatio-temporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers. The Cryosphere Discussions, 1-25, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-27 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 CC-BY-4.0: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Access constraints: unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY Antarctic Initial snowmelt onset in days after January 0 0000 LATITUDE LONGITUDE pan-Antarctica Sea ice snow snowmelt Snowmelt onset after January 0 Snowmelt onset from diurnal variations after January 0 Dataset 2019 ftpangaea https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-27 2023-01-20T09:12:30Z The timing and intensity of snowmelt processes on sea ice are key drivers determining the seasonal sea-ice energy and mass budgets. In the Arctic, satellite passive microwave and radar observations have revealed a trend towards an earlier snowmelt onset during the last decades, which is an important aspect of Arctic amplification and sea ice decline. Around Antarctica, snowmelt on perennial ice is weak and very different than in the Arctic, with most snow surviving the summer. Here we compile time series of snowmelt-onset dates on seasonal and perennial Antarctic sea ice from 1992 to 2014/15 using active microwave observations from European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1/2), Quick Scatterometer (QSCAT) and Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) radar scatterometers. We define two snowmelt transition stages: A weak backscatter rise indicating the initial warming and metamorphism of the snowpack (pre-melt), followed by a rapid backscatter rise indicating the onset of thaw-freeze cycles (snowmelt). Results show large interannual variability with an average pre-melt onset date of 29 November and melt onset of 10 December, respectively, on perennial ice, without any significant trends over the study period, consistent with the small trends of Antarctic sea ice extent. There was a latitudinal gradient from early snowmelt onsets in mid-November in the northern Weddell Sea to late (end-December) or even absent snowmelt conditions in the southern Weddell Sea. We show that QSCAT Ku-band (13.4 GHz signal frequency) derived pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates are earlier by 25 and 11 days, respectively, than ERS and ASCAT C-band (5.6 GHz) derived dates. This offset has been considered when constructing the time series. Snowmelt onset dates from passive microwave observations (37 GHz) are later by 13 and 5 days than those from the scatterometers, respectively. Based on these characteristic differences between melt onset dates observed by different microwave wavelengths, we developed a conceptual model which illustrates how the ... Dataset Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Weddell Sea PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science Arctic Antarctic Weddell Sea Weddell ENVELOPE(151.460010,-36.060430,-67.279200,-75.739670) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science |
op_collection_id |
ftpangaea |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic Initial snowmelt onset in days after January 0 0000 LATITUDE LONGITUDE pan-Antarctica Sea ice snow snowmelt Snowmelt onset after January 0 Snowmelt onset from diurnal variations after January 0 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic Initial snowmelt onset in days after January 0 0000 LATITUDE LONGITUDE pan-Antarctica Sea ice snow snowmelt Snowmelt onset after January 0 Snowmelt onset from diurnal variations after January 0 Arndt, Stefanie Haas, Christian Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
topic_facet |
Antarctic Initial snowmelt onset in days after January 0 0000 LATITUDE LONGITUDE pan-Antarctica Sea ice snow snowmelt Snowmelt onset after January 0 Snowmelt onset from diurnal variations after January 0 |
description |
The timing and intensity of snowmelt processes on sea ice are key drivers determining the seasonal sea-ice energy and mass budgets. In the Arctic, satellite passive microwave and radar observations have revealed a trend towards an earlier snowmelt onset during the last decades, which is an important aspect of Arctic amplification and sea ice decline. Around Antarctica, snowmelt on perennial ice is weak and very different than in the Arctic, with most snow surviving the summer. Here we compile time series of snowmelt-onset dates on seasonal and perennial Antarctic sea ice from 1992 to 2014/15 using active microwave observations from European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1/2), Quick Scatterometer (QSCAT) and Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) radar scatterometers. We define two snowmelt transition stages: A weak backscatter rise indicating the initial warming and metamorphism of the snowpack (pre-melt), followed by a rapid backscatter rise indicating the onset of thaw-freeze cycles (snowmelt). Results show large interannual variability with an average pre-melt onset date of 29 November and melt onset of 10 December, respectively, on perennial ice, without any significant trends over the study period, consistent with the small trends of Antarctic sea ice extent. There was a latitudinal gradient from early snowmelt onsets in mid-November in the northern Weddell Sea to late (end-December) or even absent snowmelt conditions in the southern Weddell Sea. We show that QSCAT Ku-band (13.4 GHz signal frequency) derived pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates are earlier by 25 and 11 days, respectively, than ERS and ASCAT C-band (5.6 GHz) derived dates. This offset has been considered when constructing the time series. Snowmelt onset dates from passive microwave observations (37 GHz) are later by 13 and 5 days than those from the scatterometers, respectively. Based on these characteristic differences between melt onset dates observed by different microwave wavelengths, we developed a conceptual model which illustrates how the ... |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Arndt, Stefanie Haas, Christian |
author_facet |
Arndt, Stefanie Haas, Christian |
author_sort |
Arndt, Stefanie |
title |
Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
title_short |
Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
title_full |
Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
title_fullStr |
Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Onset dates from annual snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
title_sort |
onset dates from annual snowmelt on antarctic sea ice from satellite scatterometer observations from 1992 to 2014 |
publisher |
PANGAEA |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 |
op_coverage |
MEDIAN LATITUDE: -71.036056 * MEDIAN LONGITUDE: -93.553760 * SOUTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -75.739670 * WEST-BOUND LONGITUDE: 151.460010 * NORTH-BOUND LATITUDE: -67.279200 * EAST-BOUND LONGITUDE: -36.060430 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(151.460010,-36.060430,-67.279200,-75.739670) |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic Weddell Sea Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic Weddell Sea Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Weddell Sea |
op_relation |
Arndt, Stefanie; Haas, Christian (2019): Spatio-temporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers. The Cryosphere Discussions, 1-25, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-27 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 |
op_rights |
CC-BY-4.0: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Access constraints: unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903225 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-27 |
_version_ |
1766276478473863168 |