Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers
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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Copernicus Publications
2019
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1943/2019/tc-13-1943-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/869a2a384df64732b5b285061f097e4b |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:869a2a384df64732b5b285061f097e4b 2023-05-15T13:43:58+02:00 Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers S. Arndt C. Haas 2019-07-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1943/2019/tc-13-1943-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/869a2a384df64732b5b285061f097e4b en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1943/2019/tc-13-1943-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/869a2a384df64732b5b285061f097e4b undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1943-1958 (2019) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2019 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 2023-01-22T18:58:51Z 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 the European Space Agency's (ESA) European Remote Sensing (ERS) 1 and 2 missions (ERS-1 and ERS-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 destructive 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 of December) or even absent snowmelt conditions in the southern Weddell Sea. We show that QSCAT Ku-band-derived (13.4 GHz signal frequency) pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates are earlier by 20 and 18 d, respectively, than ERS and ASCAT C-band-derived (5.6 GHz) dates. This offset has been considered when constructing the time series. Snowmelt onset dates from passive microwave observations (37 GHz) are later by 14 and 6 d than those from the scatterometers, respectively. Based on these characteristic differences between melt onset dates observed by different microwave ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Weddell Sea Unknown Antarctic Arctic Weddell Weddell Sea The Cryosphere 13 7 1943 1958 |
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language |
English |
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geo envir |
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geo envir S. Arndt C. Haas Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
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 the European Space Agency's (ESA) European Remote Sensing (ERS) 1 and 2 missions (ERS-1 and ERS-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 destructive 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 of December) or even absent snowmelt conditions in the southern Weddell Sea. We show that QSCAT Ku-band-derived (13.4 GHz signal frequency) pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates are earlier by 20 and 18 d, respectively, than ERS and ASCAT C-band-derived (5.6 GHz) dates. This offset has been considered when constructing the time series. Snowmelt onset dates from passive microwave observations (37 GHz) are later by 14 and 6 d than those from the scatterometers, respectively. Based on these characteristic differences between melt onset dates observed by different microwave ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. Arndt C. Haas |
author_facet |
S. Arndt C. Haas |
author_sort |
S. Arndt |
title |
Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
title_short |
Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
title_full |
Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
title_fullStr |
Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
title_sort |
spatiotemporal variability and decadal trends of snowmelt processes on antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1943/2019/tc-13-1943-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/869a2a384df64732b5b285061f097e4b |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere Weddell Sea |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 13, Pp 1943-1958 (2019) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/13/1943/2019/tc-13-1943-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/869a2a384df64732b5b285061f097e4b |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1943-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1943 |
op_container_end_page |
1958 |
_version_ |
1766195543546003456 |