Comparison of sea-ice freeboard and thickness distributions from aircraft data and cryosat-2

Abstract

The only remote sensing technique capable of obtaining sea-ice thickness on basin-scale are satellite altimeter missions, such as the 2010 launched CryoSat-2. It is equipped with a Ku-Band radar altimeter, which measures the height of the ice surface above the sea level. This method requires highly accurate range measurements. During the CryoSat Validation Experiment (CryoVEx) 2011 in the Lincoln Sea, Cryosat-2 underpasses were accomplished with two aircraft, which carried an airborne laser-scanner, a radar altimeter and an electromagnetic induction device for direct sea-ice thickness retrieval. Both aircraft flew in close formation at the same time of a CryoSat-2 overpass. This is a study about the comparison of the sea-ice freeboard and thickness distribution of airborne validation and CryoSat-2 measurements within the multi-year sea-ice region of the Lincoln Sea in spring, with respect to the penetration of the Ku-Band signal into the snow