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)