Satellite-based estimates of Antarctic surface meltwater fluxes

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Trusel, Luke D., Frey, Karen E., Das, Sarah B., Munneke, Peter Kuipers, van den Broeke, Michiel R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2013
• Subjects: Antarctica; Surface melt; Ice shelves; Remote sensing; Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/6427

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 40 (2013): 6148–6153, doi:10.1002/2013GL058138. This study generates novel satellite-derived estimates of Antarctic-wide annual (1999–2009) surface meltwater production using an empirical relationship between radar backscatter from the QuikSCAT (QSCAT) satellite and melt calculated from in situ energy balance observations. The resulting QSCAT-derived melt fluxes significantly agree with output from the regional climate model RACMO2.1 and with independent ground-based observations. The high-resolution (4.45 km) QSCAT-based melt fluxes uniquely detect interannually persistent and intense melt (>400 mm water equivalent (w.e.) year−1) on interior Larsen C Ice Shelf that is not simulated by RACMO2.1. This supports a growing understanding of the importance of a föhn effect in this region and quantifies the resulting locally enhanced melting that is spatially consistent with recently observed Larsen C thinning. These new results highlight important cryosphere-climate interactions and processes that are presently not fully captured by the coarser-resolution (27 km) regional climate model. This research was supported by NASA Headquarters under the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program (grant NNX12AO01H), the NASA Cryospheric Sciences Program (grant NNX10AP09G), and the NSF Antarctic Sciences Section (grant ANT-063203). 2014-06-04