A comparison of sea ice type, sea ice temperature, and snow thickness distributions in the arctic seasonal ice zones with the DMSP SSM/I

In recent years, researchers have used various combinations of DMSP SSM/I channels to independently estimate the thin ice type (which is related to ice thickness), the thin ice temperature, and the depth of snow on the ice. In each case validation efforts provided encouraging results, but taken individually each algorithm gives only one piece of the information necessary to compute the energy fluxes through the ice and snow. In this paper the authors present a comparison of the results from each of these algorithms to provide a more comprehensive picture of the seasonal ice zone using passive microwave observations.