Examining the Consistency of Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Concentration in Arctic Satellite Products

Details

• Journal Title:
  Remote Sensing
• Personal Author:
  Castro, Sandra L. ; Wick, Gary A. ; Eastwood, Steinar ; Steele, Michael A. ; Tonboe, Rasmus T.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory)
• Description:
  Available observations and a theoretical simulation are used to explore the consistency and relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice concentration (SIC) within open-ocean-sea ice mixed satellite pixels as a function of grid resolution. The maximum limiting SST value for a specified SIC and spatial resolution is first examined within collocated satellite-derived products contained within existing Level 4 SST analyses distributed using the data specification from the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature. The shape of the interdependence is further validated with manually quality-controlled buoy SST and SIC collocations. A parametric equation for the limiting SST value is derived from simulations of a mixed ocean/ice pixel with specified ice fraction and a linear SST gradient extending away from the ice edge. The exponential curve matching the observed interdependence suggests a maximum 5 km pixel-averaged SST at SIC values approaching zero between 6 and 8 °C. This maximum value is significantly greater than the previously assumed limiting values of ~3 °C and the corresponding SST gradient is larger than those typically observed with satellite SST products, but agrees well with recent Saildrone SST observations near ice. The curve provides a conservative limit with which inconsistent SST/SIC pairings can be identified, not only near the ice edge but at intermediate ice concentrations. Application of the filter improves the agreement between the SST/SIC relationship in satellite products and available Saildrone observations as well as the internal consistency of the different satellite products.
• Keywords:
  General Earth and Planetary Sciences
• Source:
  Remote Sensing, 15(11), 2908
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15112908
• ISSN:
  2072-4292
• Format:
  PDF
• Publisher:
  MDPI AG
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• License:
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c66009117f63f7b045c485630cd54fc53b270fb300d9676d1b1872b1855cd8f4
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/52784/noaa_52784_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.69 MB ]