Study of inter-annual variations in surface melting over Amery Ice Shelf,East Antarctica,using space-borne scatterometer data |
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| Authors: | S R Oza R K K Singh N K Vyas Abhijit Sarkar |
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| Institution: | 1.Space Applications Centre,Indian Space Research Organisation,Ahmedabad,India |
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| Abstract: | The widespread retreat of glaciers can be considered as a response to the climate change. Being the largest retreating glacier–ice
shelf system in East Antarctica, the Amery Ice Shelf–Lambert Glacier system plays an important role in contributing to sea
level rise as well as the surrounding environment and climate. The present study is focused on the investigation of surface
melting over the ice shelf using QuikSCAT Ku-band scatterometer data for more than 100 months covering the period from January
2000 to July 2009. The corresponding weather data of Davis Station was obtained from the website of Australian Antarctic Division.
Very prominent dips in the backscatter observed in the month of January form a distinct signature caused by physical process
of significant melting of the ice/snow surface. The steep increase again in February is attributed to the initiation of the
freezing phenomenon. The derived melting index compared well with the passive microwave-based melting index derived by other
researchers. A strong relationship was found between the scatterometer-derived melting index and the cumulative monthly mean
air temperature. The highest melting was observed in the summer (January) of 2004, and thereafter gradual cooling appeared
to take place in the subsequent years. The snow pack thickness, inferred from the backscatter variations, was found to be
higher during winters (June) of 2004 and 2005, compared with other years. |
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