Editorial Tips on Publishing Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare

Welcome to Issue 3, Volume 6 of Qualitative Research in Medicine in Healthcare. The term “qualitative research” covers a wide range of theories and methodologies, and this issue certainly illustrates that diversity of approaches. As with most articles published in QRMH, authors featured in this issue worked through multiple manuscript iterations prior to acceptance for publication. Many other submitted manuscripts, of course, never make it that far. No doubt the story is the same for any reputable research journal. [...

Satellite microwave observations of the interannual variability of snowmelt on sea ice in the Southern Ocean

Snowmelt processes on Antarctic sea ice are examined. We present a simple snowmelt indicator based on diurnal brightness temperature variations from microwave satellite data. The method is validated through extensive field data from the western Weddell Sea and lends itself to the investigation of interannual and spatial variations of the typical snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice. We use in-situ measurements of physical snow properties to show that despite the absence of strong melting, the summer period is distinct from all other seasons with enhanced diurnal variations of snow wetness. A microwave emission model reveals that repeated thawing and refreezing cause the typical microwave emissivity signatures that are found on perennial Antarctic sea ice during summer. The proposed melt indicator accounts for the characteristic phenomenological stages of snowmelt in the Southern Ocean and detects the onset of diurnal snow wetting. An algorithm is presented to map large-scale snowmelt onset based on satellite data from the period between 1988 and 2006. The results indicate strong meridional gradients of snowmelt onset with the Weddell, Amundsen, and Ross Seas showing earliest (beginning of October) and most frequent snowmelt. Moreover, a distinct interannual variability of melt onset dates and large areas of first-year ice where no diurnal freeze thawing occurs at the surface are determined