MELT EXTENT AND PATTERN IN GREENLAND AND THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULAR FROM ENVISAT ASAR GLOBAL MONITORING MODE

摘要

Melt extent over ice sheets and ice shelves has previously been measured at low spatial resolution with microwave scatterometer and radiometer data. Here we employ the Global Monitoring Mode of Envisat ASAR to measure melt extent in Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsular during 2005 and 2006, improving the spatial resolution by an order of magnitude. Melt extent results closely match those of established passive microwave analyses but show details in pattern that other techniques cannot capture.