Snow-pit measurements on Atka Bay landfast sea ice during ANT-Land 2012/2013 season

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Main Authors: Paul, Stephan, Willmes, Sascha, Hoppmann, Mario, Hunkeler, Priska A, Wesche, Christine, Nicolaus, Marcel, Heinemann, Günther, Timmermann, Ralph
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2015
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author Paul, Stephan
Willmes, Sascha
Hoppmann, Mario
Hunkeler, Priska A
Wesche, Christine
Nicolaus, Marcel
Heinemann, Günther
Timmermann, Ralph
author_facet Paul, Stephan
Willmes, Sascha
Hoppmann, Mario
Hunkeler, Priska A
Wesche, Christine
Nicolaus, Marcel
Heinemann, Günther
Timmermann, Ralph
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Up to now, snow cover on Antarctic sea ice and its impact on radar backscatter, particularly after the onset of freeze/thaw processes, are not well understood. Here we present a combined analysis of in situ observations of snow properties from the landfast sea ice in Atka Bay, Antarctica, and high-resolution TerraSAR-X backscatter data, for the transition from austral spring (November 2012) to summer (January 2013). The physical changes in the seasonal snow cover during that time are reflected in the evolution of TerraSAR-X backscatter. We are able to explain 76-93% of the spatio-temporal variability of the TerraSAR-X backscatter signal with up to four snowpack parameters with a root-mean-squared error of 0.87-1.62 dB, using a simple multiple linear model. Over the complete study, and especially after the onset of early-melt processes and freeze/thaw cycles, the majority of variability in the backscatter is influenced by changes in snow/ice interface temperature, snow depth and top-layer grain size. This suggests it may be possible to retrieve snow physical properties over Antarctic sea ice from X-band SAR backscatter.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_848914
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2015
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Snow-pit measurements on Atka Bay landfast sea ice during ANT-Land 2012/2013 season
Paul, Stephan
Willmes, Sascha
Hoppmann, Mario
Hunkeler, Priska A
Wesche, Christine
Nicolaus, Marcel
Heinemann, Günther
Timmermann, Ralph
Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; SPP1158
Up to now, snow cover on Antarctic sea ice and its impact on radar backscatter, particularly after the onset of freeze/thaw processes, are not well understood. Here we present a combined analysis of in situ observations of snow properties from the landfast sea ice in Atka Bay, Antarctica, and high-resolution TerraSAR-X backscatter data, for the transition from austral spring (November 2012) to summer (January 2013). The physical changes in the seasonal snow cover during that time are reflected in the evolution of TerraSAR-X backscatter. We are able to explain 76-93% of the spatio-temporal variability of the TerraSAR-X backscatter signal with up to four snowpack parameters with a root-mean-squared error of 0.87-1.62 dB, using a simple multiple linear model. Over the complete study, and especially after the onset of early-melt processes and freeze/thaw cycles, the majority of variability in the backscatter is influenced by changes in snow/ice interface temperature, snow depth and top-layer grain size. This suggests it may be possible to retrieve snow physical properties over Antarctic sea ice from X-band SAR backscatter.
title Snow-pit measurements on Atka Bay landfast sea ice during ANT-Land 2012/2013 season
topic Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; SPP1158
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.848914