The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves

<p>Surface meltwater drains on several Antarctic ice shelves, resulting in surface and sub-surface lakes that are potentially critical for the ice shelf collapse. Despite these phenomena, our understanding and assessment of the drainage and refreezing of these lakes is limited, mainly due to l...

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Autores principales:	W. Li, S. Lhermitte, P. López-Dekker
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Copernicus Publications 2021
Materias:	Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/30ca15328dcb469fba33eb6e4d7ebe79
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:30ca15328dcb469fba33eb6e4d7ebe792021-12-01T11:27:15ZThe potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves10.5194/tc-15-5309-20211994-04161994-0424https://doaj.org/article/30ca15328dcb469fba33eb6e4d7ebe792021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5309/2021/tc-15-5309-2021.pdfhttps://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424<p>Surface meltwater drains on several Antarctic ice shelves, resulting in surface and sub-surface lakes that are potentially critical for the ice shelf collapse. Despite these phenomena, our understanding and assessment of the drainage and refreezing of these lakes is limited, mainly due to lack of field observations and to the limitations of optical satellite imagery during polar night and in cloudy conditions. This paper explores the potential of backscatter intensity and of interferometric coherence and phase from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery as an alternative to assess the dynamics of meltwater lakes. In four case study regions over Amery and Roi Baudouin ice shelves, East Antarctica, we examine spatial and temporal variations in SAR backscatter intensity and interferometric (InSAR) coherence and phase over several lakes derived from Sentinel-1A/B C-band SAR imagery. Throughout the year, the lakes are observed in a completely frozen state, in a partially frozen state with a floating ice lid and as open-water lakes. Our analysis reveals that the meltwater lake delineation is challenging during the melting period when the contrast between melting snow and lakes is indistinguishable. Despite this finding, we show using a combination of backscatter and InSAR observations that lake dynamics can be effectively captured during other non-summertime months. Moreover, our findings highlight the utility of InSAR-based observations for discriminating between refrozen ice and sub-surface meltwater and indicate the potential for phase-based detection and monitoring of rapid meltwater drainage events. The potential of this technique to monitor these meltwater change events is, however, strongly determined by the satellite revisit interval and potential changes in scattering properties due to snowfall or melt events.</p>W. LiS. LhermitteP. López-DekkerCopernicus PublicationsarticleEnvironmental sciencesGE1-350GeologyQE1-996.5ENThe Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 5309-5322 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5
spellingShingle	Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 W. Li S. Lhermitte P. López-Dekker The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
description	<p>Surface meltwater drains on several Antarctic ice shelves, resulting in surface and sub-surface lakes that are potentially critical for the ice shelf collapse. Despite these phenomena, our understanding and assessment of the drainage and refreezing of these lakes is limited, mainly due to lack of field observations and to the limitations of optical satellite imagery during polar night and in cloudy conditions. This paper explores the potential of backscatter intensity and of interferometric coherence and phase from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery as an alternative to assess the dynamics of meltwater lakes. In four case study regions over Amery and Roi Baudouin ice shelves, East Antarctica, we examine spatial and temporal variations in SAR backscatter intensity and interferometric (InSAR) coherence and phase over several lakes derived from Sentinel-1A/B C-band SAR imagery. Throughout the year, the lakes are observed in a completely frozen state, in a partially frozen state with a floating ice lid and as open-water lakes. Our analysis reveals that the meltwater lake delineation is challenging during the melting period when the contrast between melting snow and lakes is indistinguishable. Despite this finding, we show using a combination of backscatter and InSAR observations that lake dynamics can be effectively captured during other non-summertime months. Moreover, our findings highlight the utility of InSAR-based observations for discriminating between refrozen ice and sub-surface meltwater and indicate the potential for phase-based detection and monitoring of rapid meltwater drainage events. The potential of this technique to monitor these meltwater change events is, however, strongly determined by the satellite revisit interval and potential changes in scattering properties due to snowfall or melt events.</p>
format	article
author	W. Li S. Lhermitte P. López-Dekker
author_facet	W. Li S. Lhermitte P. López-Dekker
author_sort	W. Li
title	The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
title_short	The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
title_full	The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
title_fullStr	The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
title_full_unstemmed	The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves
title_sort	potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on antarctic ice shelves
publisher	Copernicus Publications
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/30ca15328dcb469fba33eb6e4d7ebe79
work_keys_str_mv	AT wli thepotentialofsyntheticapertureradarinterferometryforassessingmeltwaterlakedynamicsonantarcticiceshelves AT slhermitte thepotentialofsyntheticapertureradarinterferometryforassessingmeltwaterlakedynamicsonantarcticiceshelves AT plopezdekker thepotentialofsyntheticapertureradarinterferometryforassessingmeltwaterlakedynamicsonantarcticiceshelves AT wli potentialofsyntheticapertureradarinterferometryforassessingmeltwaterlakedynamicsonantarcticiceshelves AT slhermitte potentialofsyntheticapertureradarinterferometryforassessingmeltwaterlakedynamicsonantarcticiceshelves AT plopezdekker potentialofsyntheticapertureradarinterferometryforassessingmeltwaterlakedynamicsonantarcticiceshelves
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The potential of synthetic aperture radar interferometry for assessing meltwater lake dynamics on Antarctic ice shelves

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