Active and passive microwave determination of the circulation and characteristics of Weddell and Ross Sea ice

Author

Drinkwater, Mark R. ; Liu, Xiang

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1999

fDate

1999

Firstpage

314

Abstract

A combination of satellite microwave data sets are used in conjunction with ECMWF and NCEP meteorological analysis fields to investigate seasonal variability in the circulation and sea-ice dynamics of the Weddell and Ross Seas. Results of sea-ice tracking using SSM/I, Scatterometer and SAR images are combined with in-situ data derived from Argos buoys and GPS drifters to validate observed drift patterns. Seasonal 3-month climatologies of ice motion and drift speed variance illustrate the response of the sea-ice system to seasonal forcing. A melt-detection algorithm is used to track the onset of seasonal melt, and to determine the extent and duration of atmospherically-led surface melting during austral summer. Results show that wind-driven drift regulates the seasonal distribution and characteristics of sea-ice and the intensity of the cyclonic Gyre circulation in these two regions

Keywords

oceanographic regions; sea ice; AD 1990; AD 1991; AD 1992; AD 1993; AD 1994; AD 1995; AD 1996; AD 1997; Antarctic Ocean; Ross Sea; Southern Ocean; Weddell Sea; circulation; motion; movement; ocean; sea ice; Antarctica; Electromagnetic heating; Global Positioning System; Large-scale systems; Meteorology; Radar measurements; Radar tracking; Satellites; Sea ice; Spaceborne radar;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1999. IGARSS '99 Proceedings. IEEE 1999 International

Conference_Location

Hamburg

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5207-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.1999.773482

Filename

773482