scholarly journals Seasonal variation of snow-surface elevation in North Greenland as modeled and detected by satellite radar altimetry

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 233-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
H. Jay Zwally ◽  
Helen Cornejo ◽  
Donghui Yi
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Seasonal Variations ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Elevation ◽  
Frequency Function ◽  
Radar Altimetry ◽  
Satellite Radar ◽  
Satellite Radar Altimetry ◽  
North Greenland

AbstractComparison of the distribution of seasonal variations in surface elevation derived from a firn-densification–elevation model with observed variations derived from ERS-1/-2 satellite radar altimetry shows close similarity in the patterns of the amplitude of the variations over the North Greenland ice sheet. The amplitudes of the seasonal variations decrease from west to east and from south to north, determined by the accumulation rate and the surface-temperature distribution pattern. Several methods of estimating the amplitude of the seasonal variation in the observations are compared, including the use of a three-frequency sinusoidal function derived from the modeled seasonal variation that is asymmetric. The resulting correlation coefficient between the observed amplitude, estimated with the three-frequency function, and the modeled amplitude is 0.66 and the slope is 0.7. Residual differences may be caused by interannual variability in accumulation and temperature and other approximations in the model.

scholarly journals Seasonal variation in the apparent height of the East Antarctic ice sheet

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 191-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Yi ◽  
C. R. Bentley ◽  
M. D. Stenoien
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Surface Elevation ◽  
Secular Change ◽  
Radar Signal ◽  
Real Surface ◽  
Radar Altimeter ◽  
Depth Of Penetration ◽  
Orbit Error ◽  
Satellite Radar

A satellite radar altimeter can be used to monitor surface elevation change over polar ice sheets. Thirty-five months of Geosat Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) data from November 1986 to September 1989 over a section of East Antarctica (69–72.1 ∘S, 80–140∘ E) have been used in this study. A model that considers both surface and volume scattering was used to retrack the altimeter waveforms. Surface elevations for each month after the first three were compared to the average elevations for the first 3 months through a crossover method. The averaged crossover elevation difference changed with time in a way that suggests a yearly cycle in surface elevation. The average amplitude of the cycle is about 0.6 m. We have been unable to find any satisfactory explanation for the observed changes, in terms of either sources of error or contributors to real surface-height changes. We strongly suspect that orbit error plays a major role in producing the variations, although we know of no quantitatively satisfactory source of a quasi-seasonal variation in orbit error. Other possible contributors include a real seasonal variation in accumulation rate, seasonal changes in the delay of the radar signal as it propagates through the atmosphere, unmodeled variations in the depth of penetration of the radar pulse into the firn, changes in the thickness of the ice and the firn zone in response to seasonal variations in pressure and temperature, and the inverted barometer effect. Even though we do not know the cause of the variations, the results show the importance of comparing elevations at the same time of year for observations that are not continuous, while at the same time showing that even annually spaced measurements may not be free of substantial errors associated with interannual variability. The quasi-periodic variations obscure any evidence of a moderate secular change in surface height, if there is one, but a dramatic lowering at rates approaching 1 ma–1, such as are known elsewhere in Antarctica, can definitely be ruled out.

The importance of slope correction for studying Greenland ice change using radar altimetry (CryoSat-2)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Sejan ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Michiel van den Broeke
Keyword(s):  
Slope Angle ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Correction Method ◽  
Surface Elevation ◽  
Laser Altimetry ◽  
Radar Altimetry ◽  
Slope Correction ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Satellite Radar

<p>Satellite radar altimetry is one of the most important tools for monitoring changes in the mass balance of the world's ice sheets. Acquiring long time series of elevation changes is crucial, and the long lifetime of the CryoSat-2 mission has contributed wonderfully to this effort. However, once the CryoSat-2 mission ends, it will be important to bridge the gap between CryoSat-2 and future radar altimetry missions. IceSat2 data can help aid this effort, assuming that the appropriate processing techniques are used to allow the comparison of radar and laser altimetry. Furthermore, different altimetry techniques come with their own pitfalls, in radar altimetry signal penetration into the snowpack introduces ambiguity in the origin of reflected echo, a major issue not present in laser altimetry. It is therefore important to minimize this ambiguity by developing processing algorithms for the radar altimetry form CryoSat-2 mission, with a special attention on relating it to the IceSat2 mission.  </p><p>Focusing on Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS), we have developed a processing chain for the estimation of surface elevations and elevation changes from the ESA level-1 product (L1b) Baseline D. As a first step, we investigated the importance of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in the slope correction algorithm and how it affects the estimated surface elevation.</p><p> </p><p>The waveform retracker algorithm was developed following the method by Nilsson (2015) with a range of thresholds in the threshold retracker applied to the waveform. Knowing the estimated range and the altitude of the satellite at the time of the measurement, we calculated the corresponding surface elevation at the point of the wavelet reflection.</p><p>We apply a slope correction method by Hurkmans (2012), where displacement from the nadir location in x- and y- directions is calculated using the slope angle and aspect retrieved from a DEM, giving a new set of coordinates that represents the location of the estimated elevation. We use two sets of slope angle and aspect calculated from two DEMs, ArcticDEM Release 7 (Porter et al., 2018) and Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) DEM (Howat et al., 2017). Both DEMs are similar in terms of optical imagery data source, processing and resolution, however, they have been referenced to different laser altimetry data. We investigate this effect in the slope correction of radar altimetry from CryoSat2 mission.</p><p>We checked the two sets of slope correction data using IceSat-2 data (Smith et al., 2019) corresponding to the same time period, and selected by nearest point calculation. We analyze and discuss the differences between IceSat-2 data and CryoSat-2 data with slope correction using GIMP DEM or ArcticDEM.</p>

Elevation change of the Greenland Ice Sheet and its measurement with satellite radar altimetry

1995 ◽  
Vol 352 (1699) ◽  
pp. 335-346 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Total Error ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Radar Altimetry ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Independent Observations ◽  
Satellite Radar ◽  
Satellite Radar Altimetry

Satellite radar altimetry is presently the only method that has provided the spatial coverage and density of observations needed to reduce the present uncertainty in the mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet and its contribution to change in eustatic sea level. The only such measurement reported, however, estimated that southern Greenland was thickening at 23±6 cm a -1 which is larger than was thought hitherto. This value is reconsidered given more recent information concerning the errors in the measurement. A survey of measurements of specific mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet is given, together with estimates of its sensitivity to temperature change. The expected behaviour is described of errors in the satellite position and errors in the range measurement to the ice sheet surface. The treatment of biases and the number of independent observations of random errors is described. It is found in particular that a higher degree of independence was given to the random errors than should have been the case. The total error is recalculated with this accounted for, and is found to remain dominated by the bias estimate and therefore largely unaffected by this change; the estimate is 23 ± 7 cm a -1 . It is concluded that the observation does support a recent thickening of the southern Greenland Ice Sheet.

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