TY - JOUR
T1 - Observing the near-surface properties of the Greenland ice sheet
AU - Scanlan, K.M.
AU - Rutishauser, A.
AU - Simonsen, S.B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023. The Authors.
PY - 2023/4/28
Y1 - 2023/4/28
N2 - Spaceborne radar altimetry over ice sheets has exclusively focused on assessing volume changes through changes in surface elevation. For use in mass balance calculations, these measurements are supplemented with surface property information derived from regional climate models with limited large-scale observational validation. Simultaneously, the strength at which a radar signal is reflected from the surface contains information on these same near-surface properties. Here we show that a quantitative interpretation of European (ESA) CryoSat-2 and French/Indian (CNES/ISRO) SARAL surface echo powers yields timeseries of pan-Greenland wavelength-scale roughness and surface density. Individually, the CryoSat-2 and SARAL results strive toward providing an observational lens to enhance our current understanding of the surface processes affecting ice sheet mass balance and validate their representation by computational models. Taken together, they highlight how diversity in currently operational and future radar satellite altimetry missions can shed light on near-surface vertical heterogeneity.
AB - Spaceborne radar altimetry over ice sheets has exclusively focused on assessing volume changes through changes in surface elevation. For use in mass balance calculations, these measurements are supplemented with surface property information derived from regional climate models with limited large-scale observational validation. Simultaneously, the strength at which a radar signal is reflected from the surface contains information on these same near-surface properties. Here we show that a quantitative interpretation of European (ESA) CryoSat-2 and French/Indian (CNES/ISRO) SARAL surface echo powers yields timeseries of pan-Greenland wavelength-scale roughness and surface density. Individually, the CryoSat-2 and SARAL results strive toward providing an observational lens to enhance our current understanding of the surface processes affecting ice sheet mass balance and validate their representation by computational models. Taken together, they highlight how diversity in currently operational and future radar satellite altimetry missions can shed light on near-surface vertical heterogeneity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85158920706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2022GL101702
DO - 10.1029/2022GL101702
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85158920706
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 50
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 8
M1 - e2022GL101702
ER -
