A New Geophysical Model Based Algorithm to Detcet Melt Events Over the Antractic Ice Sheet Using Smap Microwave Radiometry

Low frequency microwave measurements have been used to gain insight into what happens deep inside ice sheets for some time. In this paper, the response of SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) L-band measurements to surface melting of the ice sheet from 2015 through 2019 is investigated. SMAP covers v...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mousavi, Seyedmohammad, Colliander, Andreas, Miller, Julie Z., Kimball, John S.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Antarctica
Frequency measurement
Geophysical measurements
Ice
ice sheet
melt events
Microwave integrated circuits
Microwave measurement
microwave remote sensing
SMAP radiometer
Snow
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Low frequency microwave measurements have been used to gain insight into what happens deep inside ice sheets for some time. In this paper, the response of SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) L-band measurements to surface melting of the ice sheet from 2015 through 2019 is investigated. SMAP covers virtually the entire Antarctica ice sheet twice a day with its L-band (1.4 GHz) radiometer. The overpasses center on morning and evening hours as the satellite is on a 6 AM/6PM equator-crossing orbit. The spatial resolution of the instrument is about 40 km. We applied a newly developed geophysical model-based algorithm to detect snow wetness, which can be used as an indicator of melt extent and intensity. It is shown that the ice sheet experienced extensive surface melting during the 2015-2016 melt season (~10% melt extent), and also underwent intensive melting in the 2019-2020 season (median of 0.3% snow wetness), particularity on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
ISSN:2153-7003
DOI:10.1109/IGARSS47720.2021.9553899