Abstract
The surface snowmelt on ice sheets in polar areas (ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica) is not only an important sensitive factor of global climate change, but also a key factor that controls the global climate. Spaceborne earth observation provides an efficient means of measuring snowmelt dynamics. Based on an improved ice sheet snowmelt detection algorithm and several new proposed parameters for detecting change, polar ice sheet snowmelt dynamics were monitored and analyzed by using spaceborne microwave radiometer datasets from 1978 to 2014. Our results show that the change in intensity of Greenland and Antarctica snowmelt generally tended to increase and decrease, respectively. Moreover, we show that the de-trended snowmelt change in ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica vary in anti-correlation patterns. Furthermore, analysis in Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, and the Southern Annular Mode suggests that the Atlantic Ocean and atmosphere could be a possible link between the snowmelt variability of the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.
Highlights
The polar ice sheet, that is, the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, plays a very important role in the climate system [1]
Spaceborne earth observation can be used macroscopically, rapidly, accurately, objectively, and effectively to monitor and assess the snowmelt dynamics of the polar ice sheet, providing an important means of measuring snowmelt dynamics in polar areas that are difficult for people to access and measure directly
The Antarctic ice sheet surface melt is related to regional climate changes, and the ice sheet melt areas are affected by three geometric factors: size, height, and distance from the sea
Summary
The polar ice sheet, that is, the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, plays a very important role in the climate system [1]. Based on microwave radiometer data from 1979–1999, Abdalati and Steffen [11] found that a positive snowmelt trend of nearly 1%/year could be observed in Greenland ice sheets over the 21-year record These authors suggested that with a 1 ◦C temperature rise, there would be an increase in the contribution of surface runoff to the sea level of 0.31 mm/year. Mote [20] used the seasonal melt departure (SMD) to describe the amount of snowmelt in Greenland ice sheets from 1973–2007 based on Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR), Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data He found that, in 2007, was there a large increase in snowmelt, but melt occurred as much as 30 days earlier than average. Tedesco [17] compared six Antarctic ice sheet snowmelt detection algorithms using microwave radiometer data from 1979 to 2008 and analyzed the Antarctic ice sheet snowmelt’s temporal and spatial variations, the trend of the melting index (MI), and the different regional abnormal snowmelt phenomena
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