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Maslanik, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Maslanik, J..

9 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

EOS Aqua AMSR-E Arctic Sea Ice Validation Program

A coordinated Arctic sea ice validation field campaign using the NASA Wallops P-3B aircraft was successfully completed in March 2003. This campaign was part of the program for validating the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) sea ice products. The AMSR-E, designed and built by the Japanese National Space Development Agency for NASA, was launched May 4,2002 on the EOS Aqua spacecraft. The AMSR-E sea ice products include sea ice concentration, sea ice temperature, and snow depth on sea ice. The primary instrument on the P-3B aircraft was the NOAA ETL Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) covering the same frequencies and polarizations as the AMSR-E. This paper describes the objectives of each of the seven flights, the Arctic regions overflown, and the coordination among satellite, aircraft, and surface-based measurements. Two of the seven aircraft flights were coordinated with scientists making surface measurements of snow and ice properties including sea ice temperature and snow depth on sea ice at a study area near Barrow, AK and at a Navy ice camp located in the Beaufort Sea. The remaining flights covered portions of the Bering Sea ice edge, the Chukchi Sea, and Norton Sound. Comparisons among the satellite and aircraft PSR data sets are presented.

Cavalieri, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Comparisons of Arctic In-Situ Snow and Ice Data with Airborne Passive Microwave Measurements

As part of the AMSR-E sea ice validation campaign in March 2003, aircraft flights over the Arctic sea ice were coordinated with ground measurements of snow and sea ice properties. The surface-based measurements were in the vicinity of Barrow, AK, and at a Navy ice camp located in the Beaufort Sea. The NASA P-3 aircraft was equipped with the NOAA ETL PSR microwave radiometer that has the same frequencies as the AMSR-E sensor. The goal was to validate the standard AMSR-E products ice temperature and snow depth on sea ice. Ground measurements are the only way to validate these parameters. The higher spatial resolution of the PSR instrument (between 30 and 500 m, depending on altitude) enables a better comparison between ground measurements and microwave data because of the expected smaller spatial variability. Maps of PSR data can then be used for further down-scaling to AMSR-E pixel areas. Initial results show a good qualitative agreement between the in-situ snow depths and the PSR data. Detailed studies are underway and latest results will be presented.

Markus, T.↗
NASA NTRS2004

EOS Aqua AMSR-E Arctic Sea Ice Validation Program: Intercomparison Between Modeled and Measured Sea Ice Brightness Temperatures

During March 2003, an extensive field campaign was conducted near Barrow, Alaska to validate AQUA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) sea ice products. Field, airborne and satellite data were collected over three different types of sea ice: 1) first year ice with little deformation, 2) first year ice with various amounts of deformation and 3) mixed first year ice and multi-year ice with various degrees of deformation. The validation plan relies primarily on comparisons between satellite, aircraft flights and ground-based measurements. Although these efforts are important, key aspects such as the effects of atmospheric conditions, snow properties, surface roughness, melt processes, etc on the sea ice algorithms are not sufficiently well understood or documented. To improve our understanding of these effects, we combined the detailed, in-situ data collection from the 2003 field campaign with radiance modeling using a radiative transfer model to simulate the top of the atmosphere AMSR brightness temperatures. This study reports on the results of the simulations for a variety of snow and ice types and compares the results with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Technology Laboratory Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (NOAA) (ETL) (PSR) microwave radiometer that was flown on the NASA P-3.

Stroeve, J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Arctic sea ice concentrations from special sensor microwave imager and advanced very high resolution radiometer satellite data

Nearly coincident data from the special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I) and the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) are used to compute and compare Arctic sea ice concentrations for different regions and times of the year. To help determine overall accuracies and to highlight sources of differences between passive microwave, optical wavelength, and thermal wavelength data, ice concentrations are estimated using two operational SSM/I ice concentration algorithms and with visible- and thermal-infrared wavelength AVHRR data. All algorithms capture the seasonal patterns of ice growth and melt. The ranges of differences fall within the general levels of uncertainty expected for each method and are similar to previous accuracy estimates. The estimated ice concentrations are all highly correlated, with uniform biases, although differences between individual pairs of observations can be large. On average, the NASA Team algorithm yielded 5% higher ice concentrations than the Bootstrap algorithm, while during nonmelt periods the two SSM/I algorithms agree to within 0.5%. These seasonal differences are consistent with the ways that the 19-GHz and 37-GHz microwave channels are used in the algorithms. When compared to the AVHRR-derived ice concentrations, the Team-algorithm results are more similar on average in terms of correlation and mean differences. However, the Team algorithm underestimates concentrations relative to the AVHRR output by 6% during cold months and overestimates by 3% during summer. Little seasonal difference exists between the Bootstrap and AVHRR results, with a mean difference of about 5%. Although the mean differences are less between the SSM/I-derived concentrations and concentrations estimated using AVHRR channel 1, the correlations appear substantially better between the SSM/I data and concentrations derived from AVHRR channel 4, particularly for the Team algorithm output.

Emery, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Sea ice-atmospheric interaction: Application of multispectral satellite data in polar surface energy flux estimates

This is the third annual report on: Sea Ice-Atmosphere Interaction - Application of Multispectral Satellite Data in Polar Surface Energy Flux Estimates. The main emphasis during the past year was on: radiative flux estimates from satellite data; intercomparison of satellite and ground-based cloud amounts; radiative cloud forcing; calibration of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) visible channels and comparison of two satellite derived albedo data sets; and on flux modeling for leads. Major topics covered are arctic clouds and radiation; snow and ice albedo, and leads and modeling.

Steffen, Konrad↗
NASA NTRS1993

Sea ice feature and type identification in merged ERS-1 SAR and LANDSAT Thematic Mapper imagery

LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) and ERS-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) C band images were acquired for the same area in the Beaufort Sea, 18 Apr. 1992. The two images were co-located to the same grid (25 m resolution) and supervised classification was performed on the TM channel 3 scene in order to classify open water, nilas, grey ice, first year ice, and multiyear ice. Comparison of the LANDSAT classification and the corresponding dB values from the SAR scene showed that, under the given circumstances (high surface winds), open water/nilas/grey ice as defined by a single ice category by the SAR classifier could not be distinguished from first year ice. Surface roughening due to wind appears to be a major problem for the SAR classifier, as the range of the dB values is large enough to overlap all the other ice categories. Additional information, such as surface wind speed is necessary to overcome part of this problem.

Steffen, K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Sea ice - atmosphere interaction: Application of multispectral satellite data in polar surface energy flux estimates

In the past six months, work has continued on energy flux sensitivity studies, ice surface temperature retrievals, corrections to Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) thermal infrared data, modelling of cloud fraction retrievals, and radiation climatologies. We tentatively conclude that the SSM/I may not provide accurate enough estimates of ice concentration and type to improve our shorter term energy flux estimates. SSM/I derived parameters may still be applicable in longer term climatological flux characterizations. We hold promise for a system coupling observation to a ice deformation model. Such a model may provide information on ice distribution which can be used in energy flux calculations. Considerable variation was found in modelled energy flux estimates when bulk transfer coefficients are modulated by lead fetch. It is still unclear what the optimum formulation is and this will be the subject of further work. Data sets for ice surface temperature retrievals were assembled and preliminary data analysis was started. Finally, construction of a conceptual framework for further modelling of the Arctic radiation flux climatology was started.

Steffen, Konrad↗
NASA NTRS1990

Sea ice-atmosphere interaction: Application of multispectral satellite data in polar surface energy flux estimates

The application of multi-spectral satellite data to estimate polar surface energy fluxes is addressed. To what accuracy and over which geographic areas large scale energy budgets can be estimated are investigated based upon a combination of available remote sensing and climatological data sets. The general approach was to: (1) formulate parameterization schemes for the appropriate sea ice energy budget terms based upon the remotely sensed and/or in-situ data sets; (2) conduct sensitivity analyses using as input both natural variability (observed data in regional case studies) and theoretical variability based upon energy flux model concepts; (3) assess the applicability of these parameterization schemes to both regional and basin wide energy balance estimates using remote sensing data sets; and (4) assemble multi-spectral, multi-sensor data sets for at least two regions of the Arctic Basin and possibly one region of the Antarctic. The type of data needed for a basin-wide assessment is described and the temporal coverage of these data sets are determined by data availability and need as defined by parameterization scheme. The titles of the subjects are as follows: (1) Heat flux calculations from SSM/I and LANDSAT data in the Bering Sea; (2) Energy flux estimation using passive microwave data; (3) Fetch and stability sensitivity estimates of turbulent heat flux; and (4) Surface temperature algorithm.

Steffen, K.↗