Retrievals of Lake Ice Thickness From Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake Using CryoSat-2

Lake Level Change From Satellite Altimetry Over Seasonally Ice-Covered Lakes in the Mackenzie River Basin

“…2, leading to the actual waveforms (see Figs. 3 and 4) characterized by two peaks separated by a number of gates (equivalent to offset in vertical height) during ice seasons, as shown in the CryoSat-2 waveforms [21]. However, there are differences between the T/P family (see Figs.…”

“…CryoSat-2 altimetric waveforms exhibit double peaks during ice-covered seasons in Arctic lakes [21]. We show the annual change in the waveform composition for conventional nadir pointing altimeters by reference to the T/P mission series.…”

“…For ice-covered lakes in the Arctic and subarctic, there is a further complexity due to multiple altimetric reflection surfaces. Snow crystals, snow density, ice lenses, and liquid water content are factors affecting reflection from snow, while the density and size of air bubbles within the ice layer the dominant parameters for ice reflection [21]. Thus, the interpretation of the reflection surface is a challenge in using satellite radar altimetry to retrieve ice-covered lake levels.…”

“…However, change in the nature of the reflection surface causes temporal variations in the waveform characterization. It has been shown [21] that satellite altimetric waveforms exhibit double peaks during the ice-covered seasons in Arctic lakes, which can then be used to retrieve ice thickness. Double-peaked waveforms are ideally suited for subwaveform (SW) analysis.…”

Remote Sensing of Environmental Changes in Cold Regions: Methods, Achievements and Challenges

“…The authors proposed simple linear regression equations to estimate ice thickness for the lakes using 18.7 GHz V-pol data (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009), while the estimated ice thicknesses compared favorably with in situ measurements (Mean Bias Error, MBE, 6 cm; Root Mean Square Error, RMSE, 19 cm). Beckers et al [89] explored waveforms from CryoSat-2 Ku-band radar altimetry to estimate ice thickness also on GBL and GSL. Their study obtained ice thickness estimates with RMSE of 33 cm when compared to in-situ measurements obtained at GSL.…”