Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice
Wind-driven redistribution of snow on sea ice alters its topography and microstructure, yet the impact of these processes on radar signatures is poorly understood. Here, we examine the effects of snow redistribution over Arctic sea ice on radar waveforms and backscatter signatures obtained from a su...
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Copernicus GmbH
2023
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Online Access: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/1/Willatt_Wind%20redistribution%20of%20snow%20impacts%20the%20Ka-%20and%20Ku-band%20radar%20signatures%20of%20Arctic%20sea%20ice_VoR.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/ |
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ftucl:oai:eprints.ucl.ac.uk.OAI2:10171365 2023-12-24T10:13:52+01:00 Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Mallett, Robbie Stroeve, Julienne Geldsetzer, Torsten Scharien, Randall Tonboe, Rasmus Yackel, John Landy, Jack Clemens-Sewall, David Jutila, Arttu Wagner, David N Krampe, Daniela Huntemann, Marcus Mahmud, Mallik Jensen, David Newman, Thomas Hendricks, Stefan Spreen, Gunnar Macfarlane, Amy Schneebeli, Martin Mead, James Ricker, Robert Gallagher, Michael Duguay, Claude Raphael, Ian Polashenski, Chris Tsamados, Michel Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario 2023-06-02 text https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/1/Willatt_Wind%20redistribution%20of%20snow%20impacts%20the%20Ka-%20and%20Ku-band%20radar%20signatures%20of%20Arctic%20sea%20ice_VoR.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/ eng eng Copernicus GmbH https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/1/Willatt_Wind%20redistribution%20of%20snow%20impacts%20the%20Ka-%20and%20Ku-band%20radar%20signatures%20of%20Arctic%20sea%20ice_VoR.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/ open The Cryosphere , 17 (6) pp. 2211-2229. (2023) Article 2023 ftucl 2023-11-27T13:07:28Z Wind-driven redistribution of snow on sea ice alters its topography and microstructure, yet the impact of these processes on radar signatures is poorly understood. Here, we examine the effects of snow redistribution over Arctic sea ice on radar waveforms and backscatter signatures obtained from a surface-based, fully polarimetric Ka- and Ku-band radar at incidence angles between 0∘ (nadir) and 50∘. Two wind events in November 2019 during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition are evaluated. During both events, changes in Ka- and Ku-band radar waveforms and backscatter coefficients at nadir are observed, coincident with surface topography changes measured by a terrestrial laser scanner. At both frequencies, redistribution caused snow densification at the surface and the uppermost layers, increasing the scattering at the air–snow interface at nadir and its prevalence as the dominant radar scattering surface. The waveform data also detected the presence of previous air–snow interfaces, buried beneath newly deposited snow. The additional scattering from previous air–snow interfaces could therefore affect the range retrieved from Ka- and Ku-band satellite altimeters. With increasing incidence angles, the relative scattering contribution of the air–snow interface decreases, and the snow–sea ice interface scattering increases. Relative to pre-wind event conditions, azimuthally averaged backscatter at nadir during the wind events increases by up to 8 dB (Ka-band) and 5 dB (Ku-band). Results show substantial backscatter variability within the scan area at all incidence angles and polarizations, in response to increasing wind speed and changes in wind direction. Our results show that snow redistribution and wind compaction need to be accounted for to interpret airborne and satellite radar measurements of snow-covered sea ice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere University College London: UCL Discovery Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University College London: UCL Discovery |
op_collection_id |
ftucl |
language |
English |
description |
Wind-driven redistribution of snow on sea ice alters its topography and microstructure, yet the impact of these processes on radar signatures is poorly understood. Here, we examine the effects of snow redistribution over Arctic sea ice on radar waveforms and backscatter signatures obtained from a surface-based, fully polarimetric Ka- and Ku-band radar at incidence angles between 0∘ (nadir) and 50∘. Two wind events in November 2019 during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition are evaluated. During both events, changes in Ka- and Ku-band radar waveforms and backscatter coefficients at nadir are observed, coincident with surface topography changes measured by a terrestrial laser scanner. At both frequencies, redistribution caused snow densification at the surface and the uppermost layers, increasing the scattering at the air–snow interface at nadir and its prevalence as the dominant radar scattering surface. The waveform data also detected the presence of previous air–snow interfaces, buried beneath newly deposited snow. The additional scattering from previous air–snow interfaces could therefore affect the range retrieved from Ka- and Ku-band satellite altimeters. With increasing incidence angles, the relative scattering contribution of the air–snow interface decreases, and the snow–sea ice interface scattering increases. Relative to pre-wind event conditions, azimuthally averaged backscatter at nadir during the wind events increases by up to 8 dB (Ka-band) and 5 dB (Ku-band). Results show substantial backscatter variability within the scan area at all incidence angles and polarizations, in response to increasing wind speed and changes in wind direction. Our results show that snow redistribution and wind compaction need to be accounted for to interpret airborne and satellite radar measurements of snow-covered sea ice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Mallett, Robbie Stroeve, Julienne Geldsetzer, Torsten Scharien, Randall Tonboe, Rasmus Yackel, John Landy, Jack Clemens-Sewall, David Jutila, Arttu Wagner, David N Krampe, Daniela Huntemann, Marcus Mahmud, Mallik Jensen, David Newman, Thomas Hendricks, Stefan Spreen, Gunnar Macfarlane, Amy Schneebeli, Martin Mead, James Ricker, Robert Gallagher, Michael Duguay, Claude Raphael, Ian Polashenski, Chris Tsamados, Michel Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario |
spellingShingle |
Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Mallett, Robbie Stroeve, Julienne Geldsetzer, Torsten Scharien, Randall Tonboe, Rasmus Yackel, John Landy, Jack Clemens-Sewall, David Jutila, Arttu Wagner, David N Krampe, Daniela Huntemann, Marcus Mahmud, Mallik Jensen, David Newman, Thomas Hendricks, Stefan Spreen, Gunnar Macfarlane, Amy Schneebeli, Martin Mead, James Ricker, Robert Gallagher, Michael Duguay, Claude Raphael, Ian Polashenski, Chris Tsamados, Michel Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice |
author_facet |
Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Mallett, Robbie Stroeve, Julienne Geldsetzer, Torsten Scharien, Randall Tonboe, Rasmus Yackel, John Landy, Jack Clemens-Sewall, David Jutila, Arttu Wagner, David N Krampe, Daniela Huntemann, Marcus Mahmud, Mallik Jensen, David Newman, Thomas Hendricks, Stefan Spreen, Gunnar Macfarlane, Amy Schneebeli, Martin Mead, James Ricker, Robert Gallagher, Michael Duguay, Claude Raphael, Ian Polashenski, Chris Tsamados, Michel Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario |
author_sort |
Nandan, Vishnu |
title |
Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice |
title_short |
Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice |
title_full |
Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice |
title_fullStr |
Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice |
title_sort |
wind redistribution of snow impacts the ka- and ku-band radar signatures of arctic sea ice |
publisher |
Copernicus GmbH |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/1/Willatt_Wind%20redistribution%20of%20snow%20impacts%20the%20Ka-%20and%20Ku-band%20radar%20signatures%20of%20Arctic%20sea%20ice_VoR.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere , 17 (6) pp. 2211-2229. (2023) |
op_relation |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/1/Willatt_Wind%20redistribution%20of%20snow%20impacts%20the%20Ka-%20and%20Ku-band%20radar%20signatures%20of%20Arctic%20sea%20ice_VoR.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171365/ |
op_rights |
open |
_version_ |
1786186736429170688 |