Evaluation of AMSR-E Thin Ice Thickness Algorithm from a Mooring-Based Observation: How Can the Satellite Observe a Sea Ice Field with Nonuniform Thickness Distribution?

The quantification of sea ice production in coastal polynyas is a key issue to understand the global climate system. In this study, we directly compared Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) data with the sea ice thickness distribution obtained from a mooring observation during the winter of 2003 off Sakhalin in the Sea of Okhotsk to evaluate the algorithm for estimation of sea ice thickness in coastal polynyas. By using thermal ice thickness as a target physical quantity, we found that the obtained relationship between the polarization ratio (PR) and ice thickness can provide an appropriate AMSR-E algorithm to estimate thin ice thickness, irrespective of the uniform or nonuniform ice thickness field. The relationship between the PR value and thermal ice thickness is likewise consistent with the local PR–thickness relationship that is observed at individual ice floes. This is because both the PR value and thermal ice thickness are more sensitive to thinner ice. Furthermore, we evaluated the method for detection of active frazil in a coastal polynya by comparing with the mooring data, and subsequently modified it to classify the coastal polynya into three thin ice types, namely, active frazil, thin solid ice, and mixed ice (mixture of active frazil and thin solid ice). The improved algorithm successfully represents the thermal ice thickness even for a relatively small-scale polynya off Sakhalin and is expected to be useful for better quantification of sea ice production in the global ocean owing to its high versatility.