Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica

The launch of Sentinel-3A in February 2016 represented the beginning of a new long-term series of operational satellite radar altimeters, which will provide Delay-Doppler altimetry measurements over ice sheets for decades to come. Given the potential benefits that these satellites can offer to a range of glaciological applications, it is important to establish their capacity to monitor ice sheet elevation and elevation change. Here, we present the first analysis of Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over the Antarctic ice sheet, and assess the accuracy and precision of retrievals of ice sheet elevation across a range of topographic regimes. Over the low-slope regions of the ice sheet interior, we find that the instrument achieves both an accuracy and a precision of the order of 10 cm, with ∼98 % of the data validated being within 50 cm of co-located airborne measurements. Across the steeper and more complex topography of the ice sheet margin, the accuracy decreases, although analysis at two coastal sites with densely surveyed airborne campaigns shows that ∼60 %–85 % of validated data are still within 1 m of co-located airborne elevation measurements. We then explore the utility of the Sentinel-3A Delay-Doppler altimeter for mapping ice sheet elevation change. We show that with only 2 years of available data, it is possible to resolve known signals of ice dynamic imbalance and to detect evidence of subglacial lake drainage activity. Our analysis demonstrates a new, long-term source of measurements of ice sheet elevation and elevation change, and the early potential of this operational system for monitoring ice sheet imbalance for decades to come

Community Development of the Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer Model for Passive, Active and Altimetry Observations of the Cryosphere

The Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer (SMRT) model was initially developed to explore the sensitivity of microwave scattering to snow microstructure for active and passive remote sensing applications. Here, we discuss the modular design of SMRT that has enabled its rapid extension by the community. SMRT can now represent a layered medium consisting of snow, land ice, lake ice and/or sea ice overlying a substrate of soil, water or parameterized by reflectivity. A time-dependent radiative transfer solution method has also been added to allow for low resolution mode altimetry applications. We illustrate the use of SMRT to simulate brightness temperature for snow on lake ice, backscatter for snow on soil and altimeter waveforms for snow on sea ice

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Robust observational quantification of the contribution of mesoscale convective systems to rainfall in the tropics

International audienceSatellite estimation of precipitation and satellite derived statistics of Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) are analyzed conjunctively to quantify the contribution of the various types of MCS to the water budget of the tropics. The study focuses on two main mesoscale characteristics of the systems: duration and propagation. Overall, the systems lasting more than 12h are shown to account for around 75% of the tropical rainfall. 60% of the rainfall is due to systems traveling more than 250km, a typical GCM grid. A number of regional features are also revealed by factoring in the convective systems' morphological parameters in the water budget computation. These findings support the challenging effort to account for such mesoscale features when considering the theory on the future evolution of the water budget as well as the physical parameterizations of climate models. Finally, our analysis provides a simple metric for evaluating high resolution numerical simulations of the tropical water budget. Furthermore, our results are shown to be robust to the selection of the satellite rainfall products

Evaluation of SAR altimetry over the antarctic ice sheet from CryoSat-2 acquisitions

International audienceSince the 1990s and the launch of ERS-1, Earth's polar regions have been near continuously monitored by satellite altimetry, improving substantially our knowledge of the ice sheet topography and its evolution. CryoSat-2 is the first satellite carrying on-board a new generation of radar altimeter able to operate in a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode. In comparison with the Low Resolution Mode (LRM) used in conventional radar altimetry, SAR mode allows to reduce the along-track footprint from several kilometers to 300 m. In this paper we assess the SAR mode performance over the Antarctic ice sheet using sporadic CryoSat-2 acquisitions carried out in winter 2014 on dedicated zones (Lake Vostok and Adelie land). Level-1 data from two different algorithms are exploited: the CNES Cryosat-2 Processing Prototype (CPP) and the ESA Instrument Processing Facility (IPF). Firstly, results show that the estimated surface elevation from the SAR mode acquisitions over the flat surface of Lake Vostok is within the same order of magnitude as available DEMs. Mean bias is in the order of several centimeters, without any corrections accounting for the snowpack volume scattering. Secondly, the undertaken analyzes evidence that SAR altimetry has either no, or only small, sensitivity to the along-track slope-induced effect, while the across-track slope-induced effect is similar as LRM. Thirdly, SAR altimetry mode appears to be more performant than Pseudo-LRM over the steep slopes of the Antarctica margins. The precision of the estimated surface elevation is improved by 30%, and the processed waveforms are less noisy. Overall, this work demonstrates the improved measuring capability offered by SAR mode altimetry over the ice sheet surface compared to conventional altimetry

Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over Antarctica

The launch of Sentinel-3A in February 2016 represented the beginning of a new long-term series of operational satellite radar altimeters, which will provide Delay-Doppler altimetry measurements over ice sheets for decades to come. Given the potential benefits that these satellites can offer to a range of glaciological applications, it is important to establish their capacity to monitor ice sheet elevation and elevation change. Here, we present the first analysis of Sentinel-3 Delay-Doppler altimetry over the Antarctic ice sheet, and assess the accuracy and precision of retrievals of ice sheet elevation across a range of topographic regimes. Over the low-slope regions of the ice sheet interior, we find that the instrument achieves both an accuracy and a precision of the order of 10 cm, with ∼98 % of the data validated being within 50 cm of co-located airborne measurements. Across the steeper and more complex topography of the ice sheet margin, the accuracy decreases, although analysis at two coastal sites with densely surveyed airborne campaigns shows that ∼60 %–85 % of validated data are still within 1 m of co-located airborne elevation measurements. We then explore the utility of the Sentinel-3A Delay-Doppler altimeter for mapping ice sheet elevation change. We show that with only 2 years of available data, it is possible to resolve known signals of ice dynamic imbalance and to detect evidence of subglacial lake drainage activity. Our analysis demonstrates a new, long-term source of measurements of ice sheet elevation and elevation change, and the early potential of this operational system for monitoring ice sheet imbalance for decades to come

Anti-Racism from the Margins : Welcoming Refugees at Schengen’s Northernmost Border

Through events of solidarity with refugees that unfolded at the Arctic border between Norway and Russia in 2015, we critically address two common analyses of racism and humanitarianism. First, we argue that the often-claimed explanation that racism results from disenfranchised social class fails to identify solidarities across marginalized groups. Furthermore, as anti-Muslim racism has become more mainstream in the Nordic region, solidarity with refugees offers critical positions in relation to political centers. Second, the case demonstrates how humanitarian action and politicized refugee activism are not necessarily separate forms of action but more entangled forms of engagement. The case where a small Arctic community in Kirkenes responded in solidarity with the refugees who crossed the border from Russia demonstrates how humanitarian assistance entangles with politicized action against the European border regime and against xenophobia, which the locals perceive to be generated by politicians from the political centers of Europe.peerReviewe

Towards Operational Fiducial Reference Measurement (FRM) Data for the Calibration and Validation of the Sentinel-3 Surface Topography Mission over Inland Waters, Sea Ice, and Land Ice

The Copernicus Sentinel-3 Surface Topography Mission (STM) Land Altimetry provides valuable surface elevation information over inland waters, sea ice, and land ice, thanks to its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeter and its orbit that covers high-latitude polar regions. To ensure that these measurements are reliable and to maximise the return on investment, adequate validation of the geophysical retrieval methods, processing algorithms, and corrections must be performed using independent observations. The EU-ESA project St3TART (started July 2021) aims to generalise the concept of Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRMs) for the Copernicus Sentinel-3 STM. This work has gathered existing data, made new observations during field campaigns, and ensured that these observations meet the criteria of FRM standards so that they can be used to validate Sentinel-3 STM Land Altimetry products operationally. A roadmap for the operational provision of the FRM, including the definition, consolidation, and identification of the most relevant and cost-effective methods and protocols to be maintained, supported, or implemented, has been developed. The roadmap includes guidelines for SI traceability, definitions of FRM measurement procedures, processing methods, and uncertainty budget estimations.</p