Abstract
A multilayer, daily ice-surface temperature (IST)-albedo-water vapor product of Greenland, extending from March 2000 through December 2016, has been developed using standard MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data products from the Terra satellite. To meet the needs of the ice sheet modeling community, this new Earth Science Data Record (ESDR) is provided in a polar stereographic projection in NetCDF format, and includes the existing standard MODIS Collection-6.1 IST and derived melt maps, and Collection 6 snow albedo and water vapor maps, along with ancillary data, and is provided at a spatial resolution of ~0.78 km. This ESDR enables relationships between IST, surface melt, albedo and water vapor to be evaluated easily. We show examples of the components of the ESDR and describe some uses of the ESDR such as for comparison with skin temperature, albedo and water vapor output from Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2). Additionally we show validation of the MODIS IST using in situ and aircraft data, and validation of MERRA-2 skin temperature maps using MODIS IST and in situ data. The ESDR has been assigned a DOI and will be available through the National Snow and Ice Data Center by the summer of 2018.
Highlights
The rate of mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased in recent decades
We developed an enhanced Earth Science Data Record (ESDR) using data from ice surface temperature (IST), daily albedo, and atmospheric water vapor (WV) standard Terra MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products
The earlier ESDR of IST from MODIS has been extended in time and upgraded with improved spatial resolution (~0.78 km), use of the most up-to-date MODIS data processing from Collection 6 (C6) and Collection 6.1 (C6.1), and additional fields of information
Summary
The rate of mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased in recent decades Increases in both ice discharge and surface meltwater runoff have been documented but the relative contribution of surface runoff is greater [1] and models predict a larger contribution to sea level rise from surface melt and runoff in the future [1,2]. A combination of in situ and satellite measurements, and modeling, is needed to assess ice sheet surface–mass balance (SMB) and, the contribution of ice sheet meltwater to sea level rise. Following the launch of the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite in 1999, swath-based and daily gridded images and data products of the ice sheet became available in early 2000. The earlier ESDR of IST from MODIS has been extended in time and upgraded with improved spatial resolution (~0.78 km), use of the most up-to-date MODIS data processing from Collection 6 (C6) and Collection 6.1 (C6.1), and additional fields of information
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