ICESat-2 Meltwater Depth Estimates
Application to Surface Melt on Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica
Helen Amanda Fricker (University of California)
Philipp Arndt (University of California)
Kelly M. Brunt (University of Maryland, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Rajashree Tri Datta (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland)
Zachary Fair (University of Michigan)
Michael F. Jasinski (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Jonathan Kingslake (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory)
Lori A. Magruder (The University of Texas at Austin)
Bert Wouters (Universiteit Utrecht, TU Delft - Physical and Space Geodesy)
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Abstract
Surface melting occurs during summer on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, but the volume of stored surface meltwater has been difficult to quantify due to a lack of accurate depth estimates. NASA's ICESat-2 laser altimeter brings a new capability: photons penetrate water and are reflected from both the water and the underlying ice; the difference provides a depth estimate. ICESat-2 sampled Amery Ice Shelf on January 2, 2019 and showed double returns from surface depressions, indicating meltwater. For four melt features, we compared depth estimates from eight algorithms: six based on ICESat-2 and two from coincident Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 imagery. All algorithms successfully identified surface water at the same locations. Algorithms based on ICESat-2 produced the most accurate depths; the image-based algorithms underestimated depths (by 30%–70%). This implies that ICESat-2 depths can be used to tune image-based algorithms, moving us closer to quantifying stored meltwater volumes across Antarctica and Greenland.