Comparison of AMSR-E Sea Ice Concentration Algorithms in the Arctic Seasonal Sea Ice Zone

摘要

In this study, the authors have compared two major sea ice concentration algorithms, namely NASA Team 2 (NT2) Algorithm and AMSR Bootstrap (ABT) Algorithm, for extracting sea ice concentration from the passive microwave sensor AMSR-E on board Aqua satellite. Test sites were selected from the seasonal sea ice zones of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The result showed that the correlation coefficient between the sea ice concentrations derived by the both algorithms were quite high. The authors have extract areas where the sea ice concentration difference of ABT and NT2 were less than plus minus 5% as "Agreed Area" (Area A). The other areas were assigned as "Disagreed Area" (Area D). The contribution of parameters of both algorithms for Area A and Area D were evaluated in details. The simultaneously collected MODIS images of the Area D were closely evaluated to identify the reasons of disagreement of the both algorithms. The sea ice concentration difference of the thin sea ice areas was one of the key of the disagreement.