The Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice which surrounds it are important components of the global cryosphere and climate system. Accurate monitoring of the Antarctic cryosphere requires an understanding of all components of the surface-atmosphere system. The surface roughness of the snow and sea ice surfaces impacts the remote sensing signatures, but quantifiable information is currently lacking. This knowledge gap introduces considerable uncertainty in the estimation of Antarctic sea ice thickness and volume, for example. Here, we propose to fill this gap through concurrent multi-scale measurements using cutting-edge laser scanning technologies combined with optical and physical measurements of snow and sea ice. The field work takes place at the Finnish research station Aboa on Antarctica. The results will lead to improvements in e.g. surface energy budget calculations relevant to the melt of the ice sheet, and in the monitoring of the health of the Antarctic sea ice cover.

2021

2024