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Titel |
Weekly gridded Aquarius L-band radiometer/scatterometer observations and salinity retrievals over the polar regions – Part 2: Initial product analysis |
VerfasserIn |
L. Brucker, E. P. Dinnat, L. S. Koenig |
Medientyp |
Artikel
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Sprache |
Englisch
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ISSN |
1994-0416
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Digitales Dokument |
URL |
Erschienen |
In: The Cryosphere ; 8, no. 3 ; Nr. 8, no. 3 (2014-05-16), S.915-930 |
Datensatznummer |
250116156
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Publikation (Nr.) |
copernicus.org/tc-8-915-2014.pdf |
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Zusammenfassung |
Following the development and availability of Aquarius weekly polar-gridded
products, this study presents the spatial and temporal radiometer and
scatterometer observations at L band (frequency ~1.4 GHz) over the
cryosphere including the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, sea ice in both
hemispheres, and over sub-Arctic land for monitoring the soil freeze/thaw
state. We provide multiple examples of scientific applications for the L-band
data over the cryosphere. For example, we show that over the Greenland Ice
Sheet, the unusual 2012 melt event lead to an L-band brightness temperature
(TB) sustained decrease of ~5 K at horizontal polarization. Over the
Antarctic ice sheet, normalized radar cross section (NRCS) observations
recorded during ascending and descending orbits are significantly different,
highlighting the anisotropy of the ice cover. Over sub-Arctic land, both
passive and active observations show distinct values depending on the soil
physical state (freeze/thaw). Aquarius sea surface salinity (SSS) retrievals
in the polar waters are also presented. SSS variations could serve as an
indicator of fresh water input to the ocean from the cryosphere, however the
presence of sea ice often contaminates the SSS retrievals, hindering the
analysis. The weekly grided Aquarius L-band products used are distributed by
the US Snow and Ice Data Center at
http://nsidc.org/data/aquarius/index.html , and show potential for
cryospheric studies. |
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