Retrieval of Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice From Surface-Based, Polarimetric, Dual-Frequency Radar Altimetry

Willatt, R.; Stroeve, J.C.; Nandan, V.; Newman, T.; Mallett, R.; Hendricks, S.; Ricker, R.; Mead, J.; Itkin, P.; Tonboe, R.; Wagner, D.N.; Spreen, G.; Liston, G.; Schneebeli, M.; Krampe, D.; Tsamados, M.; Demir, O.; Wilkinson, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7166-3042; Jaggi, M.; Zhou, L.; Huntermann, M.; Raphael, I.A.; Jutila, A.; Oggier, M.. 2023 Retrieval of Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice From Surface-Based, Polarimetric, Dual-Frequency Radar Altimetry. Geophysical Research Letters, 50 (20), e2023GL104461. 11, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104461

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Official URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.102...

Abstract/Summary

Snow depth on sea ice is an Essential Climate Variable and a major source of uncertainty in satellite altimetry-derived sea ice thickness. During winter of the MOSAiC Expedition, the “KuKa” dual-frequency, fully polarized Ku- and Ka-band radar was deployed in “stare” nadir-looking mode to investigate the possibility of combining these two frequencies to retrieve snow depth. Three approaches were investigated: dual-frequency, dual-polarization and waveform shape, and compared to independent snow depth measurements. Novel dual-polarization approaches yielded r2 values up to 0.77. Mean snow depths agreed within 1 cm, even for data sub-banded to CryoSat-2 SIRAL and SARAL AltiKa bandwidths. Snow depths from co-polarized dual-frequency approaches were at least a factor of four too small and had a r2 0.15 or lower. r2 for waveform shape techniques reached 0.72 but depths were underestimated. Snow depth retrievals using polarimetric information or waveform shape may therefore be possible from airborne/satellite radar altimeters.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104461
ISSN:	0094-8276
Additional Keywords:	sea ice; snow; radar; altimetry; polarimetric; climate
Date made live:	23 Oct 2023 09:02 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536148

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104461

ISSN:

0094-8276

Additional Keywords:

sea ice; snow; radar; altimetry; polarimetric; climate

Date made live:

23 Oct 2023 09:02 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536148