Temporal and spatial variability in surface roughness and accumulation rate around 88° S from repeat airborne geophysical surveys

• Published in: The cryosphere 2020-10, Vol.14 (10), p.3287-3308
• Main Authors: Studinger, Michael, Medley, Brooke C., Brunt, Kelly M., Casey, Kimberly A., Kurtz, Nathan T., Manizade, Serdar S, Neumann, Thomas A., Overly, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption cross sections; Accumulation; Airborne lasers; Airborne remote sensing; Aircraft; Algorithms; Altimeters; Altimetry; Backscatter; Backscattering; Balances (scales); Bands; Bias; Corrections; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Elevation; Footprints; Geophysical data; Geophysical surveys; Geophysics; Geosciences (General); Global positioning systems; GPS; Ice sheets; Image acquisition; Imagery; Lasers; Mean winds; Polls & surveys; Precipitation; Radar; Radar altimeters; Radar imaging; Radio altimeters; Satellites; Scanners; Signal strength; Slopes; Snow; Snow accumulation; Spatial variability; Spatial variations; Standard deviation; Statistical analysis; Stratigraphy; Strong winds; Superhigh frequencies; Surface roughness; Surveying; Temporal variability; Temporal variations; Variability; Water surface slope; Wind; Wind direction
• ISSN: 1994-0416; 1994-0424; 1994-0424; 1994-0416
• DOI: 10.5194/tc-14-3287-2020

We use repeat high-resolution airborne geophysical data consisting of laser altimetry, snow, and Ku-band radar and optical imagery acquired in 2014, 2016, and 2017 to analyze the spatial and temporal variability in surface roughness, slope, wind deposition, and snow accumulation at 88° S, an elevation bias validation site for ICESat-2 and potential validation site for CryoSat-2. We find significant small-scale variability (