Author(s): Katrina L. Hill; Kelvin Michael
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Sea ice surface temperature (IST) is a key yet poorly-parameterised climate variable. It drives the longwave radiation flux, and is closely linked to seasonal and inter-annual variability in Antarctic sea ice surface melt, the patterns of which may also change in response to long-term global warming. Accurate temperature data are also a key input to coupled air-sea-ice models, and the validation of model results. In this paper, we present new coefficients for a standard algorithm to derive Antarctic IST from NOAA AVHRR satellite thermal infrared data, taking advantage of the excellent coverage of this sensor to provide maps of IST at a spatial resolution of 1 km. These new coefficients are based upon radiative transfer modelling using radiosonde profile data collected during a cruise of the RSV Aurora Australis to East Antarctica in the austral winter of 1999. Previous algorithms have used radiosonde data from the Antarctic continent only. Surface data collected during the cruise are used to validate the new IST retrievals.
Year: 2002