Winter Snow Depth on Arctic Sea Ice From Satellite Radiometer Measurements (2003–2020): Regional Patterns and Trends

Abstract

Retrieval of snow depth on sea ice from satellite measurements has been challenging especially for multiyear ice. In this study, January-February-March monthly averaged snow depth was estimated during the 2003–2020 period from satellite radiometer measurements by combining recently developed retrieval methods for freeboard and snow-ice thickness ratio. A good agreement between snow depth from this study and that from Operational IceBridge measurements demonstrates that reliable snow depth can be estimated from satellite measurements. From the analysis of wintertime snow depth estimated from this study, a reduction of mean snow depth compared to the modified Warren climatology is noted over the entire Arctic Ocean. In addition, this study found geographically different snow depth trends: positive for multiyear ice area and negative for the other areas. Average snow depth interannual variability on multiyear ice ranges between 3 to 5 cm while smaller variability is found on first-year ice.