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Assessment of radar‐derived snow depth over A rctic sea ice
Author(s) -
Newman Thomas,
Farrell Sinead L.,
RichterMenge Jacqueline,
Connor Laurence N.,
Kurtz Nathan T.,
Elder Bruce C.,
McAdoo David
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1002/2014jc010284
Subject(s) - snow , sea ice , arctic , arctic ice pack , sea ice thickness , geology , climatology , snow field , cryosphere , sea ice concentration , radar , snow line , environmental science , oceanography , snow cover , geomorphology , telecommunications , computer science
Knowledge of contemporaneous snow depth on Arctic sea ice is important both to constrain the regional climatology and to improve the accuracy of satellite altimeter estimates of sea ice thickness. We assess new data available from the NASA Operation IceBridge snow radar instrument and derive snow depth estimates across the western Arctic ice pack using a novel methodology based on wavelet techniques that define the primary reflecting surfaces within the snow pack. We assign uncertainty to the snow depth estimates based upon both the radar system parameters and sea ice topographic variability. The accuracy of the airborne snow depth estimates are examined via comparison with coincident measurements gathered in situ across a range of ice types in the Beaufort Sea. We discuss the effect of surface morphology on the derivation, and consequently the accuracy, of airborne snow depth estimates. We find that snow depths derived from the airborne snow radar using the wavelet‐based technique are accurate to 1 cm over level ice. Over rougher surfaces including multiyear and ridged ice, the radar system is impacted by ice surface morphology. Across basin scales, we find the snow‐radar‐derived snow depth on first‐year ice is at least ∼60% of the value reported in the snow climatology for the Beaufort Sea, Canada Basin, and parts of the central Arctic, since these regions were previously dominated by multiyear ice during the measurement period of the climatology. Snow on multiyear ice is more consistent with the climatology.