UTSA COS Summer Research Experience for 2013
Antarctic Sea Ice Thickness from ICESat Altimetry
Satellite remote sensing has been the main operational means of monitoring changes in sea ice cover in the Arctic and Antarctic, due to the remoteness and vast area of ice coverage. Although sea ice extent has been relatively easy to retrieve by using passive microwave remote sensing, there has been a lack of comprehensive sea ice thickness and snow depth (over sea ice) data available for the Antarctic sea ice. The NASA’s ICESat (2003-2009) has been the only such satellite to derive snow depth and ice thickness for the Antarctic sea ice. During the summer period, the student will (1) know some basics of Antarctic sea ice and ICESat using literature review, (2) learn to process ICESat data using GIS (Geographic Information System, a popular computer-based software), and (3) use algorithms developed in my lab to derive snow depth and ice thickness for the Weddell Sea region for the 2003-2009 period. Some spatial analysis and statistical analysis skills will also be learned and will be used to analyze the final results and write a final report.
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