An improved version of the SICE algorithm retrieving snow and ice properties is described in a recently published paper. It includes the introduction of a new atmospheric correction, retrieval of snow impurity load and properties, retrievals for partially snow-covered ground and also accounting for various thresholds to be used to assess the retrieval quality. The …
Understanding the processes driving ice-ocean interactions and their timescale is pivotal in getting a full picture of the Antarctic sensitivity to future climate variability. A recently published study measured 2018-2019 increased speed and discharge of ice and calving front retreat for the Cadman Glacier, and highlighted correlation to a positive temperature anomaly in the upper …
In the next decades, population growth is expected to amplify current pressures on critical resources such as fresh water or food, intensify the stress on land and marine ecosystems and increase environmental pollution and its impacts on health and biodiversity. Global warming and the increasing impacts of climate change, especially on most vulnerable populations, will …
Henna-Reetta is a researcher at Earth Observation Research unit in Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland. In her Master thesis she studied the snow conditions in Finland between 1919 and 2010 based on historical snow depth data records. She completed her PhD degree at University of Helsinki in 2022. Her doctoral thesis focused on the effect …
New research, utilizing data from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 and CryoSat satellite missions, offers a stark view of the state of Antarctica’s ice shelves. Over the last 25 years, 40% of these vital floating extensions of the continent’s ice sheet have significantly diminished in volume, releasing approximately 67 trillion tonnes of meltwater into the ocean. This …
Southern Ocean Freshwater (SO Fresh) is a recent ESA funded project (2021-2023) included in the Polar Cluster Initiative. Polar Cluster aims at establishing collaboration with the existing projects in polar areas to put into value of unique, added-value capabilities from ESA missions and remote sensing missions in general. SO FRESH goals are to improve our …
Satellite observations have played a crucial role in capturing and understanding the phenomenon of Arctic amplification, characterized by amplified and accelerated regional warming in the Arctic. A recently published paper, outcome of the Arktalas Hoavva project, synthesized the significant contributions of satellite observations, shedding light on the nature and characteristics of this phenomenon, and capturing key …
A recently published study has produced the first ever global assessment of glacier mass loss using satellite radar altimetry, in particular ESA’s CryoSat-2 satellite and a breakthrough way of using its data. The results show that between 2010 and 2020, glaciers lost a total of 272 ± 11 gigatonnes of ice, which is equivalent to …
Ice losses from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been accelerating since the 1990s, according to the latest study published today by the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE). The study, which presents a 29-year record of ice sheet mass balance from 1992 to 2020, combines 50 independent estimates of ice sheet mass …
The Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE) project is a community effort aiming for a reconciled assessment of regional and global glacier mass changes towards the next IPCC report. Anyone performing research in this domain is now invited to submit their data (either based on altimetry, DEM, in-situ glaciological, gravimetry or combined measurements) as input …
