An assessment of arctic sea ice concentration retrieval based on “HY-2” scanning radiometer data using field observations during CHINARE-2012 and other satellite instruments

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 42 - 50
• Main Authors: Shi, Lijiang, Lu, Peng, Cheng, Bin, Karvonen, Juha, Wang, Qimao, Li, Zhijun, Han, Hongwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg The Chinese Society of Oceanography 01.03.2015; Springer Nature B.V; National Satellite 0cean Application Service, State 0ceanic Administration, Beijing 100081, China%Laboratory of Coastal and 0ffshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China%Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki FI-00101, Finland
• Subjects: Aerial photography; Algorithms; Atmospheric effects; Brightness; Brightness temperature; Climatology; Computer centers; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Expeditions; Ice; Ice cover; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Meteorological satellites; Microwave radiometers; Oceanography; Radar imaging; Radiometers; Research expeditions; Retrieval; Rocket launches; SAR (radar); Satellite instruments; Scanning; Sea ice; Sensors; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Surface radiation temperature; Synthetic aperture radar; Temperature; Temperature data; Time series; 冰密集度; 北极海; 南极考察; 卫星仪器; 基础; 微波辐射计; 扫描; 评估; China; Arctic region; PN, Arctic; retrieval algorithm; HY-2; scanning microwave radiometer; sea ice concentration; arctic
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-015-0632-9

A retrieval algorithm of arctic sea ice concentration （SIC） based on the brightness temperature data of “HY-2” scanning microwave radiometer has been constructed. The tie points of the brightness temperature were selected based on the statistical analysis of a polarization gradient ratio and a spectral gradient ratio over open water （OW）, first-year ice （FYI）, and multiyear ice （MYI） in arctic. The thresholds from two weather filters were used to reduce atmospheric effects over the open ocean. SIC retrievals from the “HY-2” radiom-eter data for idealized OW, FYI, and MYI agreed well with theoretical values. The 2012 annual SIC was calcu-lated and compared with two reference operational products from the National Snow and Ice Data Center （NSIDC） and the University of Bremen. The total ice-covered area yielded by the “HY-2” SIC was consistent with the results from the reference products. The assessment of SIC with the aerial photography from the fifth Chinese national arctic research expedition （CHINARE） and six synthetic aperture radar （SAR） images from the National Ice Service was carried out. The “HY-2” SIC product was 16% higher than the values de-rived from the aerial photography in the central arctic. The root-mean-square （RMS） values of SIC between “HY-2” and SAR were comparable with those between the reference products and SAR, varying from 8.57% to 12.34%. The “HY-2” SIC is a promising product that can be used for operational services.