Surface classification of summer sea-ice using MABEL and SIMPL Multi-beam Altimetry

Abstract:

The Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL) has been flown over the Arctic since 2012. Its primary goal is to act as an airborne simulator of the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument aboard the yet to be launched ICESat-2 satellite. It is, therefore, imperative that MABEL is flown throughout the year to better understand how ATLAS will perform on different seasonal surface types. In 2014 were we able, for the first time, to obtain summer sea-ice data over the Beaufort Sea, using the MABEL instrument. This is of great importance to the testing and development of surface classification algorithms for ICESat-2, as summer sea-ice is characterized by far more surface type variability than during the rest of the year. This added complexity must be accounted for in the summer surface classification algorithms. Here, we will describe how surface classification parameters are obtained for the summer campaign and how they differ from the previous spring campaign. We will address the ability of MABEL to resolve small-scale surface characteristic changes, with particular emphasis on the detection of leads and melt ponds, which are very important in freeboard and sea-ice extent estimates. Mission success permitting, we will also present sea-ice classification results from the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar (SIMPL), which is currently (August, 2015) being flown over Greenland and the Arctic.