Using new techniques to measure pan-Arctic sea ice thickness from the satellite radar altimeter Cryosat-2 during summer months

Automated open source processing chain using Sentinel-3 OLCI and SLSTR sensors to determine a dry/wet snow and clean/polluted bare ice spectral and broadband optical albedo 1 km daily product for land ice (glaciers, ice caps, ice sheet)

The overarching project objectiveis threefold- 1) Supporting the development of novel products and enhanced data sets responding to the needs of the Arctic science community;2) Fostering new scientific results addressing the main priority areas of Arctic research;3) Preparing a solid scientific basis for larger activities addressing the priorities of the Arctic science community; This shall involve the collaborationamong the different scientific communities involved in Arctic process studies, modellers and EO experts.

The study aimed at exploring, developing and validating different approaches to retrieve snow thickness over sea ice; to develop a new prototype processor; and to produce and validate an experimental dataset of snow thickness over the Arctic.

Prototype system for Arctic Mission Benefit Analysis (ArcMBA) that makes a mathematically rigorous evaluation of the effect that observational constraints imposed by individual and groups of EO (and in situ) data products would have in an advanced data assimilation system. The assessment is performed in terms of the uncertainty reduction in simulated/predicted sea ice, snow, and oceanic target quantities of scientific and societal interest.

The project will deliver the first measurements of Arctic sea ice thickness during summer months, from twin satellites- ESA s CryoSat-2 & NASA s ICESat-2. Research linked to LPF project ArcticSummIT (https://eo4society.esa.int/projects/arcticsummit-arctic-summer-ice-thickness/)

Making inference about the state of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets with the production of swath elevations, DEMs, elevation change and innovative science products making use of the technique of swath interferometry applied to SARIn mode CryoSat data.

Develop and validate different approaches to retrieve snow thickness over the sea ice, to develop a new prototype processor, and to produce and validate an experimental dataset of snow thickness over the Arctic.

Quantitative multi-scale (temporal and spatial) understanding of sea ice, ocean and atmosphere interactive processes and their mutual feedback, focusing on four Arctic Scientific research Challenges- Arctic Amplification, open water on sea ice dynamics, impact of extreme event storms in sea-ice formation, Artcic ocean spin up

The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the global average, making climate changess polar effects more intense than anywhere else in the world. The Arctic accounts for half of the organic carbon stored in soils. There is high confidence that the thaw of terrestrial permafrost will lead to carbon release, but only low confidence regarding timing, magnitude and relative role of CO2 versus CH4 according to the sixth assessment report of IPCC (2021). There is general consensus that these issues can be tackled through support by satellite observations, but this has not been fully exploited to date. The recently inaugurated Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge (AMPAC) strives to address these questions inter alia through making use of synergistic measurements, activities to improve satellite retrievals with a clear focus on high latitudes, and promoting new dedicated satellite sensors as well as improving validation of existing and upcoming satellite missions.