| Summary: | We seek to validate four aspects of CryoSat data through the use of in-situ GPS, airborne laser observations, and firn measurements. The first component of the project seeks to validate the signal delay due to tropospheric water vapour (provided by the ECMWF product for the CryoSat-2 data stream), using our network of six in-situ GPS sites deployed over the 2010/11 summer period. Second, we will assess the SAR-In mode of the SIRAL altimeter in an area of significant across-track slope through comparison with detailed topographic and data collected using airborne scanning LiDAR and detailed skidoo-based GPS surveys. The in-situ GPS sites deployed in the region also serve to provide reference stations for the precise positioning of the aircraft and skidoo trajectories. Third, we will compare CryoSat estimates of dH/dt over a range of magnitudes including the dynamic upper Totten glacier region against those determined from our 10/11 field measurements combined with historic survey data, other satellite altimetry results and future seasons of field observations. Finally, we will improve altimetry-based inferences of mass change in this part of Antarctica by better resolving the spatial and temporal variation of firn density through measurements along a transect of pits.In this contribution we will show the initial results from our first season (austral summer 2010/11), following retrieval of the GPS sites and data by mid-April.
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