Multi-frequency altimetry snow depth product over Arctic sea ice

Satellite altimetry can be used to estimate sea ice thickness, an essential variable to better understand and forecast the dynamic ice cover. Nevertheless, some sources of uncertainty remain, and one of the most important concerns the snow depth, a key parameter to convert the measured ice freeboard into sea ice thickness.

Snow depth can be estimated using different altimeter frequencies with different snow penetration capabilities. We have developed a monthly snow depth product based on the differences between CryoSat-2 SAR Ku and IceSat-2 laser altimeters covering the period 2018-2021 with a spatial resolution of 25 km.