Concentration and thickness of sea ice in the Weddell Sea from SSM/I passive microwave radiometer data

This study evaluated feasibility statistically and analyzed, during the freezing period, the relationship between brightness temperature (Tb) data of the 37V polarisation and the GR3719 (Gradient Ratio 37V and 19V) obtained by Special Sensor Microwave/Imager from F11 and F13 satellites with sea ice thickness (SIT) data obtained in the Weddell Sea through Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate program. The multiple linear regression (MLR) was applied at 1,520 points, with 70% of these points being randomly separated to generate the MLR and 30% to carry out the validation. To perform the temporal mapping, the MLR was applied only to pixels with sea ice concentration (SIC) ≥ 90%, obtained through the fraction image calculated from the spectral linear mixing model (SLMM) using the Tb in the channels and polarizations 19H, 19V and 37V. The results of the SLMM validation process for estimating the SIC were σ = 10.5%, RMSE = 11.0%, and bias = -2.8%, and the SIT based on the MLR, the results were R² = 0.57, RMSE = 0.268 m, and bias = 0.103 m. In the SIT mapping, we highlight the trend of thickness reduction on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula during the period 1992-2009.

MODIS Sea Ice Thickness and Open Water–Sea Ice Charts over the Barents and Kara Seas for Development and Validation of Sea Ice Products from Microwave Sensor Data

We have developed algorithms and procedures for calculating daily sea ice thickness (SIT) and open water–sea ice (OWSI) charts, based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), ice surface temperature (IST) (night-time only), and reflectance ( R ) swath data, respectively. The resolution of the SIT chart is 1 km and that of the OWSI chart is 250 m. The charts are targeted to be used in development and validation of sea ice products from microwave sensor data. We improve the original MODIS cloud masks for the IST and R data, with a focus on identifying larger cloud-free areas in the data. The SIT estimation from the MODIS IST swath data follows previous studies. The daily SIT chart is composed from available swath charts by assigning daily median SIT to a pixel. The OWSI classification is simply conducted by a fixed threshold for the MODIS band 1 R . This was based on manually selected R data for various ice types in late winter, early melt, and advanced melt conditions. The composition procedures for the daily SIT and OWSI charts somewhat compensates for errors due to the undetected clouds. The SIT and OWSI charts were compared against manual ice charts by Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Russia and by Norwegian Meteorological Institute, respectively, and on average, a good relationship between the charts was found. Pixel-wise comparison of the SIT and OWSI charts showed very good agreement in open water vs. sea ice classification, which gives further confidence on the reliability of our algorithms. We also demonstrate usage of the MODIS OWSI and SIT charts for validation of sea ice concentration charts based on the SENTINEL-1 SAR and AMSR2 radiometer data and two different algorithms.

Does Arctic sea ice reduction foster shelf-basin exchange?

The recent shift in Arctic ice conditions from prevailing multi-year ice to first-year ice will presumably intensify fall-winter sea ice freezing and the associated salt flux to the underlying water column. Here, we conduct a dual modeling study whose results suggest that the predicted catastrophic consequences for the global thermohaline circulation (THC), as a result of the disappearance of Arctic sea ice, may not necessarily occur. In a warmer climate, the substantial fraction of dense water feeding the Greenland-Scotland overflow may form on Arctic shelves and cascade to the deep basin, thus replenishing dense water, which currently forms through open ocean convection in the sub-Arctic seas. We have used a simplified model for estimating how increased ice production influences shelf-basin exchange associated with dense water cascading. We have carried out case studies in two regions of the Arctic Ocean where cascading was observed in the past. The baseline range of buoyancy-forcing derived from the columnar ice formation was calculated as part of a 30-year experiment of the pan-Arctic coupled ice-ocean general circulation model (GCM). The GCM results indicate that mechanical sea ice divergence associated with lateral advection accounts for a significant part of the interannual variations in sea ice thermal production in the coastal polynya regions. This forcing was then rectified by taking into account sub-grid processes and used in a regional model with analytically prescribed bottom topography and vertical stratification in order to examine specific cascading conditions in the Pacific and Atlantic sectors of the Arctic Ocean. Our results demonstrate that the consequences of enhanced ice formation depend on geographical location and shelf-basin bathymetry. In the Pacific sector, strong density stratification in slope waters impedes noticeable deepening of shelf-origin water, even for the strongest forcing applied. In the Atlantic sector, a 1.5x increase of salt flux leads to a threefold increase of shelf-slope volume flux below the warm core of Atlantic water. This threefold increase would be a sufficient substitute for a similar amount of dense water that currently forms in the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian (GIN) seas but is expected to decrease in a warming climate.