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ARISE (Antarctic Remote Ice Sensing Experiment) in the East 2003: Validation of Satellite-derived Sea-ice Data ProductPreliminary results are presented from the first validation of geophysical data products (ice concentration, snow thickness on sea ice (h(sub s) and ice temperature (T(sub i))fr om the NASA EOS Aqua AMSR-E sensor, in East Antarctica (in September-October 2003). The challenge of collecting sufficient measurements with which to validate the coarse-resolution AMSR-E data products adequately was addressed by means of a hierarchical approach, using detailed in situ measurements, digital aerial photography and other satellite data. Initial results from a circumnavigation of the experimental site indicate that, at least under cold conditions with a dry snow cover, there is a reasonably close agreement between satellite- and aerial-photo-derived ice concentrations, i.e. 97.2+/-.6% for NT2 and 96.5+/-2.5% for BBA algorithms vs 94.3% for the aerial photos. In general, the AMSR-E concentration represents a slight overestimate of the actual concentration, with the largest discrepancies occurring in regions containing a relatively high proportion of thin ice. The AMSR-E concentrations from the NT2 and BBA algorithms are similar on average, although differences of up to 5% occur in places, again related to thin-ice distribution. The AMSR-E ice temperature (T(sub i)) product agrees with coincident surface measurements to approximately 0.5 C in the limited dataset analyzed. Regarding snow thickness, the AMSR h(sub s) retrieval is a significant underestimate compared to in situ measurements weighted by the percentage of thin ice (and open water) present. For the case study analyzed, the underestimate was 46% for the overall average, but 23% compared to smooth-ice measurements. The spatial distribution of the AMSR-E h(sub s) product follows an expected and consistent spatial pattern, suggesting that the observed difference may be an offset (at least under freezing conditions). Areas of discrepancy are identified, and the need for future work using the more extensive dataset is highlighted.
Document ID
20070035107
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Massom, Robert A.
(Tasmania Univ. Australia)
Worby, Anthony
(Tasmania Univ. Australia)
Lytle, Victoria
(Norwegian Polar Institute Tromso, Norway)
Markus, Thorsten
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Allison, Ian
(Tasmania Univ. Australia)
Scambos, Theodore
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Enomoto, Hiroyuki
(Kitami Inst. of Tech. Hokkaido, Japan)
Tateyama, Kazutaka
(Kitami Inst. of Tech. Hokkaido, Japan)
Haran, Terence
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Comiso, Josefino C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Pfaffling, Andreas
(Alfred-Wegener-Inst. for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven, Germany)
Tamura, Takeshi
(Hokkaido Univ. Sapporo, Japan)
Muto, Atsuhiro
(Chiba Univ. Chiba, Japan)
Kanagaratnam, Pannir
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Giles, Barry
(Tasmania Univ. Australia)
Young, Neal
(Tasmania Univ. Australia)
Hyland, Glenn
(Tasmania Univ. Australia)
Key, Erica
(Miami Univ. FL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 2006
Publication Information
Publication: Annals of Glaciology
Volume: 44
Issue: 1
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: AAS Project 2298
OTHER: NRA-OES-03
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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