This project is funded by NASA grant NNG04G051G

Objective

• Document the seasonal and interannual variations in snow, ice sheet and sea ice conditions over a 27-year time period (1978-2005) and compare respective variabilities
• Determine the degree to which these variations correlate (including lagged correlations) with observed trends in air temperature, winds, cloud properties, atmospheric indices such as the AO and NAO, and the surface energy budget
• Test the utility of multivariate analysis of cryospheric variables as a more effective means of detecting climatic change in regions where field observations are scarce
• Quantify relationships between snow and ice melt and thermodynamic variable

Collaborators

Julienne Stroeve

Project Summary

In the process of meeting these objectives, we will produce spatial statistics and estimates summarizing dates of melt onset, dates of freeze-up, melt duration, dates of first snow cover and snow-free conditions, and duration of continuous snow cover. We will also assess significance of multivariate trends in terms of large-scale climatic forcings versus localized, weakly correlated weather conditions. In addition, we will intercalibrate between the various passive microwave (SMMR, SSM/I, and AMSR-E) and the optical and thermal sensors (AVHRR and MODIS) using the EOS era sensors as the baseline. These objectives will also help us summarize statistics and trends for a suite of cryospheric variables and related atmospheric conditions.

Related Resources

None

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