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The Australian Antarctic Division has validated 30 years of sea ice datasets.
The Australian-led initiative compared data collected using NASA's Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) sensor with sea ice and snow cover information collecting during ARISE (Antarctic Remote Ice Sensing Experiment). The results show that the AMSR-E data is valid and can be used to benefit global climate research.
Important information on Antarctic sea ice distribution and properties is routinely and remotely collected using satellites. Satellite passive microwave remote sensing is a key polar research tool because it:
- has systematic, daily near-global coverage
- penetrates cloud cover and polar darkness
- discriminates sea ice from open ocean.
Work carried out during ARISE (Antarctic Remote Ice Sensing Experiment) has enabled the first-ever detailed validation of this key dataset, which dates back to 1978. This is crucial to global climate research, and specifically:
- sea ice concentration
- snow thickness on sea ice
- ice temperature.
The work was conducted by scientists from Australia, the USA, Germany, Belgium, Japan and China, in close association with NASA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), between September and October 2003. The Aurora Australis visited the sea-ice zone to north-west of Casey (64-65.5ºS, 112-119ºE).
The effective use of data collected from satellite passive remote sensing requires knowledge of its accuracy. This was achieved by comparing AMSR-E data with collected at the same time that sea ice and snow cover information was collected during ARISE.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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