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Passive microwave remote sensing of seasonal snow-covered sea ice

Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS), Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, 440 Wallace Building, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2K1, Canada, a.langlois2{at}usherbrooke.ca

David G. Barber

Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS), Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, 440 Wallace Building, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2K1, Canada

The Arctic is thought to be an area where we can expect to see the first and strongest signs of global-scale climate variability and change. We have already begun to see a reduction in: (1) the aerial extent of sea ice at about 3% per decade and (2) ice thickness at about 40%. At the current rate of reduction we can expect a seasonally ice-free Arctic by midway through this century given the current changes in thermodynamic processes controlling sea-ice freeze-up and decay. Many of the factors governing the thermodynamic processes of sea ice are strongly tied to the presence and geophysical state of snow on sea ice, yet snow on sea ice remains poorly studied. In this review, we provide a summary of the current state of knowledge pertaining to the geophysical, thermodynamic and dielectric properties of snow on sea ice. We first give a detailed description of snow thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity, diffusivity and specific heat and how snow geophysical/electrical properties and the seasonal surface energy balance affect them. We also review the different microwave emission and scattering mechanisms associated with snow-covered first-year sea ice. Finally, we discuss the annual evolution of the Arctic system through snow thermodynamic (heat/mass transfer, metamorphism) and aeolian processes, with linkages to microwave remote sensing that have yet to be defined from an annual perspective in the Arctic.

Key Words: Arctic • climate change • geophysical properties • passive microwave • remote sensing • sea ice • seasonal evolution • snow • surface energy balance.

Progress in Physical Geography, Vol. 31, No. 6, 539-573 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0309133307087082


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