ALBERT

Description: Part of the Earth Observing System Aqua Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) Arctic sea ice validation campaign in March 2003 was dedicated to the validation of snow depth on sea ice and ice temperature products. The difficulty with validating these two variables is that neither can currently be measured other than in situ. For this reason, two aircraft flights on March 13 and 19,2003, were dedicated to these products, and flight lines were coordinated with in situ measurements of snow and sea ice physical properties. One flight was in the vicinity of Barrow, AK, covering Elson Lagoon and the adjacent Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The other flight was farther north in the Beaufort Sea (about 73 N, 147.5 W) and was coordinated with a Navy ice camp. The results confirm the AMSR-E snow depth algorithm and its coefficients for first-year ice when it is relatively smooth. For rough first-year ice and for multiyear ice, there is still a relationship between the spectral gradient ratio of 19 and 37 GHz, but a different set of algorithm coefficients is necessary. Comparisons using other AMSR-E channels did not provide a clear signature of sea ice characteristics and, hence, could not provide guidance for the choice of algorithm coefficients. The limited comparison of in situ snow-ice interface and surface temperatures with 6-GHz brightness temperatures, which are used for the retrieval of ice temperature, shows that the 6-GHz temperature is correlated with the snow-ice interface temperature to only a limited extent. For strong temperature gradients within the snow layer, it is clear that the 6-GHz temperature is a weighted average of the entire snow layer.

Description: An overview of the March 2003 coordinated sea ice field campaign in the Alaskan Arctic is presented with reference to the papers in this special section. This campaign is part of the program to validate the Aqua Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) sea ice products. Standard AMSR-E sea ice products include sea ice concentration, sea ice temperature, and snow depth on sea ice. The validation program consists of three elements, namely: 1) satellite data comparisons; 2) coordinated satellite/aircraft surface measurements; and 3) modeling and sensitivity analyses. Landsat-7 and RADARSAT observations were used in comparative studies with the retrieved AMSR-E sea ice concentrations. The aircraft sensors provided high-resolution microwave imagery of the surface, atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity, and digital records of sea ice conditions. When combined with in situ measurements, aircraft data were used to validate the AMSR-E sea ice temperature and snow-depth products. The modeling studies helped interpret the field-data comparisons, provided insight on the limitations of the AMSR-E sea ice algorithms, and suggested potential improvements to the AMSR-E retrieval algorithms.

Description: In March 2003, a field validation campaign was conducted on the sea ice near Barrow, AK. The goal of this campaign was to produce an extensive dataset of sea ice thickness and snow properties (depth and stratigraphy) against which remote sensing products collected by aircraft and satellite could be compared. Chief among these were products from the Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) flown aboard a NASA P-3B aircraft and the Aqua Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). The data were collected in four field areas: three on the coastal sea ice near Barrow, AK, and the fourth out on the open ice pack 175 km northeast of Barrow. The snow depth ranged from 9.4-20.8 cm in coastal areas (n = 9881 for three areas) with the thinnest snow on ice that had formed late in the winter. Out in the main pack ice, the snow was 20.6 cm deep (n = 1906). The ice in all four areas ranged from 138-219 cm thick (n = 1952), with the lower value again where the ice had formed late in the winter. Snow layer and grain characteristics observed in 118 snow pits indicated that 44% of observed snow layers were depth hoar; 46% were wind slab. Snow and ice measurements were keyed to photomosaics produced from low-altitude vertical aerial photographs. Using these, and a distinctive three-way relationship between ice roughness, snow surface characteristics, and snow depth, strip maps of snow depth, each about 2 km wide, were produced bracketing the traverse lines. These maps contain an unprecedented level of snow depth detail against which to compare remote sensing products. The maps are used in other papers in this special issue to examine the retrieval of snow properties from the PSR and AMSR-E sensors.

Description: During March 2003, an extensive field campaign was conducted near Barrow, Alaska to validate AQUA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) sea ice products. Field, airborne and satellite data were collected over three different types of sea ice: 1) first year ice with little deformation, 2) first year ice with various amounts of deformation and 3) mixed first year ice and multi-year ice with various degrees of deformation. The validation plan relies primarily on comparisons between satellite, aircraft flights and ground-based measurements. Although these efforts are important, key aspects such as the effects of atmospheric conditions, snow properties, surface roughness, melt processes, etc on the sea ice algorithms are not sufficiently well understood or documented. To improve our understanding of these effects, we combined the detailed, in-situ data collection from the 2003 field campaign with radiance modeling using a radiative transfer model to simulate the top of the atmosphere AMSR brightness temperatures. This study reports on the results of the simulations for a variety of snow and ice types and compares the results with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Technology Laboratory Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (NOAA) (ETL) (PSR) microwave radiometer that was flown on the NASA P-3.

Description: A comparison of snow depths on sea ice was made using airborne altimeters and an Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) simulator. The data were collected during the March 2006 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Arctic field campaign utilizing the NASA P-3B aircraft. The campaign consisted of an initial series of coordinated surface and aircraft measurements over Elson Lagoon, Alaska and adjacent seas followed by a series of large-scale (100 km ? 50 km) coordinated aircraft and AMSR-E snow depth measurements over portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. This paper focuses on the latter part of the campaign. The P-3B aircraft carried the University of Colorado Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR-A), the NASA Wallops Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) lidar altimeter, and the University of Kansas Delay-Doppler (D2P) radar altimeter. The PSR-A was used as an AMSR-E simulator, whereas the ATM and D2P altimeters were used in combination to provide an independent estimate of snow depth. Results of a comparison between the altimeter-derived snow depths and the equivalent AMSR-E snow depths using PSR-A brightness temperatures calibrated relative to AMSR-E are presented. Data collected over a frozen coastal polynya were used to intercalibrate the ATM and D2P altimeters before estimating an altimeter snow depth. Results show that the mean difference between the PSR and altimeter snow depths is -2.4 cm (PSR minus altimeter) with a standard deviation of 7.7 cm. The RMS difference is 8.0 cm. The overall correlation between the two snow depth data sets is 0.59.

Description: No abstract available

Description: This paper examines the sensitivity of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) brightness temperatures (Tbs) to surface roughness by a using radiative transfer model to simulate AMSR-E Tbs as a function of incidence angle at which the surface is viewed. The simulated Tbs are then used to examine the influence that surface roughness has on two operational sea ice algorithms, namely: 1) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Team (NT) algorithm and 2) the enhanced NT algorithm, as well as the impact of roughness on the AMSR-E snow depth algorithm. Surface snow and ice data collected during the AMSR-Ice03 field campaign held in March 2003 near Barrow, AK, were used to force the radiative transfer model, and resultant modeled Tbs are compared with airborne passive microwave observations from the Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer. Results indicate that passive microwave Tbs are very sensitive even to small variations in incidence angle, which can cause either an over or underestimation of the true amount of sea ice in the pixel area viewed. For example, this paper showed that if the sea ice areas modeled in this paper mere assumed to be completely smooth, sea ice concentrations were underestimated by nearly 14% using the NT sea ice algorithm and by 7% using the enhanced NT algorithm. A comparison of polarization ratios (PRs) at 10.7,18.7, and 37 GHz indicates that each channel responds to different degrees of surface roughness and suggests that the PR at 10.7 GHz can be useful for identifying locations of heavily ridged or rubbled ice. Using the PR at 10.7 GHz to derive an "effective" viewing angle, which is used as a proxy for surface roughness, resulted in more accurate retrievals of sea ice concentration for both algorithms. The AMSR-E snow depth algorithm was found to be extremely sensitive to instrument calibration and sensor viewing angle, and it is concluded that more work is needed to investigate the sensitivity of the gradient ratio at 37 and 18.7 GHz to these factors to improve snow depth retrievals from spaceborne passive microwave sensors.

Description: The thickness of Arctic sea ice plays a critical role in Earth's climate and ocean circulation. An accurate measurement of this parameter on synoptic scales at regular intervals would enable characterization of this important component for the understanding of ocean circulation and the global heat balance. Presented in this paper is a low frequency VHF interferometer technique and associated radar instrument design to measure sea ice thickness based on the use of backscatter correlation functions. The sea ice medium is represented as a multi-layered medium consisting of snow, seaice and sea water, with the interfaces between layers characterized as rough surfaces. This technique utilizes the correlation of two radar waves of different frequencies and incident and observation angles, scattered from the sea ice medium. The correlation functions relate information about the sea ice thickness. Inversion techniques such as the genetic algorithm, gradient descent, and least square methods, are used to derive sea ice thickness from the phase information related by the correlation functions.