HR: 08:45h
AN: OS21D-04 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: High-resolution mapping of the Arctic sea ice cover with RADARSAT and ICESat for climate and process studies
AU: * Kwok, R
EM: ron.kwok@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, MS 300-235 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AB: Fine-scale mapping of sea ice kinematics and deformation have been demonstrated shortly after the launch of SEASAT. But it is not until the routine mapping provided by the wide-swath imaging mode of RADARSAT that we have been able to observe the basin-scale evolution of the ice cover at a resolution (~100 m) comparable to the width of openings (fractures). In winter, the ice cover concentrates gradients in the forcing wind field into these narrow bands of fracture where intense air/sea interactions take place. The time series of these kinematics and deformation fields have allowed detailed examinations of the seasonal and interannual variability of these small-scale processes that are characteristic of the dynamic response of the ice cover to large-scale forcings. Results will be highlighted. ICESat has been providing periodic altimetric maps of the Arctic sea ice cover since its launch. The potential of using these measurements to construct maps of sea ice thickness is being explored. Near-coincident RADARSAT imagery provides a spatial context for understanding the ICESat elevation and reflectivity profiles. Together, high-resolution SAR imaging and altimeter profiling provide an unprecedented 3-dimensional view of the ice surface for understanding sea ice processes and improving model parameterizations. The importance of continuing these measurements for climate and process studies is stressed.
DE: 0750 Sea ice (4540)
DE: 4207 Arctic and Antarctic oceanography (9310, 9315)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005