| Summary: | We show how imagery from uncalibrated airborne camerascan be used to reconstruct the snow/air interface onAntarctic sea ice, using data collected on the SIPEX-IIresearch voyage during austral spring 2012. Imagerycollected by an airborne surveying package was used todevelop a 3D surface model using a structure-from-motionapproach. This model was validated using coincidentairborne LiDAR and in situ observation of total freeboard. Ourstudy demonstrates that equivalent surveys may be obtainedusing unmanned vehicles (drones) carrying only a cameraand basic navigation equipment. Using this method, detailedfloe-to-multifloe scale models of snow topography may bederived without logistically intensive airborne surveyingprograms. In turn, this allows for quick repeat surveys -simplifying the capture of a surface topography time series atany given field research site. It also allows for highly detailedanalysis of relationships between surface features and howthe evolve over time. Finally, we show how different surveyingscenarios affect data quality and the ability to easily coregistersurface models with other coincident datasets. Wediscuss how future surveys should be planned, which dataneed to be collected alongside the imagery used to generate3D models, and where future development should be aimedat in terms of uncertainty computations and data qualityassessment.
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