Atmospheric signatures in sea-ice concentration estimates from passive microwaves: Modelled and observed

The effects of weather systems on sea-ice concentration retrieval are investigated using an advanced radiative transfer model with input data from 155radiosonde ascents together with satellite and ground based observations in the Weddell Sea in 1992. The results of the model study indicate that, using the SSM/I NASA Team algorithm, cloud liquid water increases estimates of total sea-ice concentration by the same magnitude as water vapour, i.e., up to 10 per cent, depending on surface type (open ocean, first-year ice, multiyear ice), and actual concentration. Estimates of the multiyear ice concentration are reduced by up to 80 per cent by cloud liquid water whereas the water-vapour effect is smaller (up to 6 per cent). The combined effect is less than the sum of the two. Calculations using the SMMR sea-ice algorithm were made for comparison with previous estimates by Pedersen and Maslanik. In this case study, estimates of the multiyear fraction show a smaller reduction by water vapour and a larger reductio...