Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice
Monitoring long-term, large-scale changes in the Antarctic sea ice thickness is not currently possible due to the sampling constraints of the ship-based and airborne observations which comprise most of the available thickness data. Satellite radar altimetry has been used to measure sea ice thickness...
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ftucl:oai:eprints.ucl.ac.uk.OAI2:154917 2023-05-15T13:53:53+02:00 Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice Willatt, RC Giles, KA Laxon, SW Stone-Drake, L Worby, AP 2010-01 http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/154917/ unknown IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC IEEE T GEOSCI REMOTE , 48 (1) 365 - 372. (2010) Antarctic regions frequency-modulated (FM) radar ice radar altimetry snow LASER ALTIMETER MEASUREMENTS AIRBORNE LASER BACKSCATTER THICKNESS SHEET Article 2010 ftucl 2016-10-20T22:18:18Z Monitoring long-term, large-scale changes in the Antarctic sea ice thickness is not currently possible due to the sampling constraints of the ship-based and airborne observations which comprise most of the available thickness data. Satellite radar altimetry has been used to measure sea ice thickness variability in the Arctic where it is assumed that the highest amplitude radar return originates from the snow/ice interface as the Arctic snow is cold and dry; however, this may not be the case in the Antarctic due to more complex snow stratigraphy caused by warmer winter temperatures and frequent snow flooding. We present the first measurements of radar penetration into snow cover on Antarctic sea ice in the Ku-band at which satellite radar altimeters operate. Data were taken using a sled-borne radar on sea ice off East Antarctica during September and October 2007. Radar data and field measurements of snow density, thickness, wetness, and layers were taken over a range of locations including snow packs with flooding, hard crusts, and icy layers. Detailed snow pit studies showed that the snow/ice interface was the dominant scattering surface only for snow without morphological features or flooding. Analysis of transect data showed that the mean depth of the dominant scattering surface of the radar was only around 50% of the mean measured snow depth, indicating that the dominant scattering surface was not always the snow/ice interface for the Antarctic sea ice surveyed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic East Antarctica Sea ice University College London: UCL Discovery Antarctic Arctic East Antarctica The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
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University College London: UCL Discovery |
op_collection_id |
ftucl |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Antarctic regions frequency-modulated (FM) radar ice radar altimetry snow LASER ALTIMETER MEASUREMENTS AIRBORNE LASER BACKSCATTER THICKNESS SHEET |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic regions frequency-modulated (FM) radar ice radar altimetry snow LASER ALTIMETER MEASUREMENTS AIRBORNE LASER BACKSCATTER THICKNESS SHEET Willatt, RC Giles, KA Laxon, SW Stone-Drake, L Worby, AP Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice |
topic_facet |
Antarctic regions frequency-modulated (FM) radar ice radar altimetry snow LASER ALTIMETER MEASUREMENTS AIRBORNE LASER BACKSCATTER THICKNESS SHEET |
description |
Monitoring long-term, large-scale changes in the Antarctic sea ice thickness is not currently possible due to the sampling constraints of the ship-based and airborne observations which comprise most of the available thickness data. Satellite radar altimetry has been used to measure sea ice thickness variability in the Arctic where it is assumed that the highest amplitude radar return originates from the snow/ice interface as the Arctic snow is cold and dry; however, this may not be the case in the Antarctic due to more complex snow stratigraphy caused by warmer winter temperatures and frequent snow flooding. We present the first measurements of radar penetration into snow cover on Antarctic sea ice in the Ku-band at which satellite radar altimeters operate. Data were taken using a sled-borne radar on sea ice off East Antarctica during September and October 2007. Radar data and field measurements of snow density, thickness, wetness, and layers were taken over a range of locations including snow packs with flooding, hard crusts, and icy layers. Detailed snow pit studies showed that the snow/ice interface was the dominant scattering surface only for snow without morphological features or flooding. Analysis of transect data showed that the mean depth of the dominant scattering surface of the radar was only around 50% of the mean measured snow depth, indicating that the dominant scattering surface was not always the snow/ice interface for the Antarctic sea ice surveyed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Willatt, RC Giles, KA Laxon, SW Stone-Drake, L Worby, AP |
author_facet |
Willatt, RC Giles, KA Laxon, SW Stone-Drake, L Worby, AP |
author_sort |
Willatt, RC |
title |
Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice |
title_short |
Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice |
title_full |
Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice |
title_fullStr |
Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Field Investigations of Ku-Band Radar Penetration Into Snow Cover on Antarctic Sea Ice |
title_sort |
field investigations of ku-band radar penetration into snow cover on antarctic sea ice |
publisher |
IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/154917/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic East Antarctica The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic East Antarctica The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic East Antarctica Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic East Antarctica Sea ice |
op_source |
IEEE T GEOSCI REMOTE , 48 (1) 365 - 372. (2010) |
_version_ |
1766259364738367488 |