IceSense – Remote Sensing of the Seasonal Evolution of Climate-relevant Sea Ice Properties

Better understanding and prediction of Arctic climate change urgently require more detailed process studies and improved satellite observations. MOSAiC offers the unique opportunity to observe and upscale the complete annual cycles of climate relevant sea ice properties like ice concentration and type, ice and snow freeboard, roughness, thickness, and deformation, and melt pond coverage and geometry. Here we process and analyse the extensive and collocated MOSAiC in-situ, airborne, and satellite remote sensing sea ice data sets of those parameters, and improve satellite retrieval algorithms. We will primarily use year-round data from ground-based microwave radiometers and airborne (helicopter and Polar 5/6) laser scanner and visible and infrared camera systems, in conjunction with in-situ ice and snow property measurements. These will be complemented by satellite radiometry and altimetry measurements. Results will be used to place MOSAiC observations into a pan-Arctic spatio-temporal context, to support and collaborate with a multitude of complementary, interdisciplinary MOSAiC projects, and as input for improved remote sensing, modeling and parameterization of climate relevant sea ice properties.

The project partners are the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and the University of Bremen.

IceSense is funded by the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)

Project information at BMBF: 03F0866A, 03F0866B

 

 

Project meetings

  • 07.06.2021 Kick-Off Meeting (online)
  • 14.01.2022 Progress Meeting (at AWI and hybrid)
  • 30.04.2024 End of IceSense Project

Publications

  • Herrmannsdörfer, L., M. Müller, M. D. Shupe & P. Rostosky (2023). Surface temperature comparison of the Arctic winter MOSAiC observations, ERA5 reanalysis, and MODIS satellite retrieval. Elementa Sci. Anth., 11(1), 00085. doi:10.1525/elementa.2022.00085 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Kortum, K., S. Singha, G. Spreen, N. Hutter, A. Jutila, & C. Haas (2024). SAR deep learning sea ice retrieval trained with airborne laser scanner measurements from the MOSAiC expedition. The Cryosphere, 18, 2207–2222. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2207-2024 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Krumpen, T., L. von Albedyll, H. F. Goessling, S. Hendricks, B. Juhls, G. Spreen, S. Willmes, H. J. Belter, K. Dethloff, C. Haas, L. Kaleschke, C. Katlein, X. Tian-Kunze, R. Ricker, P. Rostosky, J. Rückert, S. Singha, & J. Sokolova (2021). MOSAiC drift expedition from October 2019 to July 2020: sea ice conditions from space and comparison with previous years. The Cryosphere, 15, 3897–3920. doi:10.5194/tc-15-3897-2021 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Nandan, V., R. Willatt, R. Mallett, J. Stroeve, T. Geldsetzer, R. Scharien, R. Tonboe, J. Yackel, J. Landy, D. Clemens-Sewall, A. Jutila, D. N. Wagner, D. Krampe, M. Huntemann, M. Mahmud, D. Jensen, T. Newman, S. Hendricks, G. Spreen, A. Macfarlane, M. Schneebeli, J. Mead, R. Ricker, M. Gallagher, C. Duguay, I. Raphael, C. Polashenski, M. Tsamados, I. Matero, & M. Hoppman (2023). Wind redistribution of snow impacts the Ka- and Ku-band radar signatures of Arctic sea ice. The Cryosphere, 17, 2211–2229. doi:10.5194/tc-17-2211-2023 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Nicolaus, M., D. K. Perovich, G. Spreen, M. A. Granskog, L. von Albedyll, M. Angelopoulos, P. Anhaus, S. Arndt, H. J. Belter, V. Bessonov, G. Birnbaum, J. Brauchle, R. Calmer, E. Cardellach, B. Cheng, D. Clemens-Sewall, R. Dadic, E. Damm, G. de Boer, O. Demir, K. Dethloff, D. V. Divine, A. A. Fong, S. Fons, M. M. Frey, N. Fuchs, C. Gabarró, S. Gerland, H. F. Goessling, R. Gradinger, J. Haapala, C. Haas, J. Hamilton, H.-R. Hannula, S. Hendricks, A. Herber, C. Heuzé, M. Hoppmann, K. V. Høyland, M. Huntemann, J. K. Hutchings, B. Hwang, P. Itkin, H.-W. Jacobi, M. Jaggi, A. Jutila, L. Kaleschke, C. Katlein, N. Kolabutin, D. Krampe, S. S. Kristensen, T. Krumpen, N. Kurtz, A. Lampert, B. A. Lange, R. Lei, B. Light, F. Linhardt, G. E. Liston, B. Loose, A. R. Macfarlane, M. Mahmud, I. O. Matero, S. Maus, A. Morgenstern, R. Naderpour, V. Nandan, A. Niubom, M. Oggier, N. Oppelt, F. Pätzold, C. Perron, T. Petrovsky, R. Pirazzini, C. Polashenski, B. Rabe, I. A. Raphael, J. Regnery, M. Rex, R. Ricker, K. Riemann-Campe, A. Rinke, J. Rohde, E. Salganik, R. K. Scharien, M. Schiller, M. Schneebeli, M. Semmling, E. Shimanchuk, M. D. Shupe, M. M. Smith, V. Smolyanitsky, V. Sokolov, T. Stanton, J. Stroeve, L. Thielke, A. Timofeeva, R. T. Tonboe, A. Tavri, M. Tsamados, D. N. Wagner, D. Watkins, M. Webster, & M. Wendisch (2022). Overview of the MOSAiC expedition: Snow and sea ice. Elementa Sci. Anth., 10(1), 000046. doi:10.1525/elementa.2021.000046 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Rostosky, P., & G. Spreen (2023). Relevance of warm air intrusions for Arctic satellite sea ice concentration time series. The Cryosphere, 17, 3867–3881. doi:10.5194/tc-17-3867-2023 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Rückert, J. E., P. Rostosky, M. Huntemann, D. Clemens-Sewall, K. Ebell, L. Kaleschke, J. Lemmetyinen, A. R. Macfarlane, R. Naderpour, J. Stroeve, A. Walbröl, & G. Spreen (2023). Sea ice concentration satellite retrievals influenced by surface changes due to warm air intrusions: A case study from the MOSAiC expedition. Elementa Sci. Anth., 11(1), 00039. doi:10.1525/elementa.2023.00039 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Stroeve, J., V. Nandan, R. Willatt, R. Dadic, P. Rostosky, M. Gallagher, R. Mallett, A. Barrett, S. Hendricks, R. Tonboe, M. McCrystall, M. Serreze, L. Thielke, G. Spreen, T. Newman, J. Yackel, R. Ricker, M. Tsamados, A. Macfarlane, H.-R.. Hannula, & M. Schneebeli (2022). Rain on snow (ROS) understudied in sea ice remote sensing: a multi-sensor analysis of ROS during MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate). The Cryosphere, 16, 4223–4250. doi:10.5194/tc-16-4223-2022 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Thielke, L., G. Spreen, M. Huntemann, & D. Murashkin (2024). Spatio-temporal variability of small-scale leads based on helicopter maps of winter sea ice surface temperatures. Elementa Sci. Anth., 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00023 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Thielke, L., N. Fuchs, G. Spreen, B. Tremblay, G. Birnbaum, M. Huntemann, N. Hutter, P. Itkin, A. Jutila, & M. A. Webster (2023). Preconditioning of summer melt ponds from winter sea ice surface temperature. Geophys. Res. Lett., 50(4), e2022GL101493. doi:10.1029/2022GL101493 [Article (PDF file)]
  • Thielke, L., M. Huntemann, S. Hendricks, A. Jutila, R. Ricker, & G. Spreen (2022). Sea ice surface temperatures from helicopter-borne thermal infrared imaging during the MOSAiC expedition. Sci. Data, 9, 364. doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01461-9 [Article (PDF file)]
  • von Albedyll, L., S. Hendricks, N. Hutter, D. Murashkin, L. Kaleschke, S. Willmes, L. Thielke, X. Tian-Kunze, G. Spreen, & C. Haas (2024). Lead fractions from SAR-derived sea ice divergence during MOSAiC. The Cryosphere, 18, 1259–1285. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1259-2024 [Article (PDF file)]

Datasets

  • Rostosky, P., G. Spreen, T. Casal, C. Donlon, L. Kaleschke, J. Lemmetiynen, M. Mahmud, R. Naderpour, A. Tavri, and L. Thielke (2023a): Brightness temperature measured by HUTRAD radiometer at 6.8 and 10.65 GHz from March to September 2020 during the MOSAiC expedition. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.954608
  • Rostosky, P., J. Stroeve., M. Huntemann, L. Kaleschke, R. Naderpour, G. Spreen, and L. Thielke (2023b):  Brightness temperature measured by UoM SBR radiometer at 19, 37 and 89 GHz from September 2019 to September 2020 during the MOSAiC expedition. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.956108
  • Stroeve, J., P. Rostosky, M. HuntemannL. Kaleschke, R. Nanderpour, G. Spreen, and L. Thielke (2023): Brightness temperature raw data measured by UoM SBR radiometer at 19, 37 and 89 GHz from September 2019 to September 2020 during the MOSAiC expedition. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.958034
  • Thielke, L., M. Huntemann, and G. Spreen (2022): Lead classification maps from helicopter-borne surface temperatures during the MOSAiC expedition [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.951569
  • Thielke, L., M. Huntemann, S. Hendricks, A. Jutila, R. Ricker, and G. Spreen (2022): Helicopter-borne thermal infrared sea ice surface temperatures during the MOSAiC expedition, version 2 [dataset bundled publication]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.941017
  • Thielke, L., Huntemann, M., Hendricks, S., Jutila, A., Ricker, R., and Spreen, G. (2021): Helicopter-borne thermal infrared sea ice surface temperatures during the MOSAiC expedition. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.934666
  • von Albedyll, L., Haas, C., and Grodofzig, R. (2021): EM-Bird ice thickness measurements in the Transpolar Drift during MOSAiC 2019/2020, part 1. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.934578