loading page

Melt Pond Fraction Derived from Sentinel-2 Data: Along the MOSAiC Drift and Arctic-wide
  • +10
  • Hannah Niehaus,
  • Gunnar Spreen,
  • Gerit Birnbaum,
  • Larysa Istomina,
  • Evelyn Jäkel,
  • Felix Linhardt,
  • Niklas Neckel,
  • Marcel Nicolaus,
  • Tim Sperzel,
  • Melinda Anne Webster,
  • Nicholas C Wright,
  • Niels Fuchs,
  • Ran Tao
Hannah Niehaus
University of Bremen

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Gunnar Spreen
University of Bremen
Author Profile
Gerit Birnbaum
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Author Profile
Larysa Istomina
University of Bremen
Author Profile
Evelyn Jäkel
Leipziger Institut für Meteorologie
Author Profile
Felix Linhardt
Kiel University
Author Profile
Niklas Neckel
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Author Profile
Marcel Nicolaus
Alfred Wegener Institute
Author Profile
Tim Sperzel
Leipziger Institut für Meteorologie
Author Profile
Melinda Anne Webster
University of Alaska Fairbanks/Geophysical Institute
Author Profile
Nicholas C Wright
Dartmouth College
Author Profile
Niels Fuchs
Center for Earth System Sustainability, Institute of Oceanography, University of Hamburg
Author Profile
Ran Tao
Alfred Wegener Institut
Author Profile

Abstract

Melt ponds forming on Arctic sea ice in summer significantly reduce the surface albedo and impact the heat and mass balance of the sea ice. Their seasonal development features fast and local changes in fractions of surface types demonstrating the necessity of improving melt pond fraction (MPF) products. We present a renewed method to extract MPF from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, which is evaluated by MPF products from higher resolution satellite and helicopter-borne imagery. The analysis of melt pond evolution during the MOSAiC campaign in summer 2020, shows a split of the Central Observatory (CO) into a level ice and a highly deformed part, the latter of which exhibits exceptional early melt pond formation compared to the vicinity. Average CO MPFs amount to 17 % before and 23 % after the major drainage. Arctic-wide analysis of MPF for years 2017-2021 shows a consistent seasonal cycle in all regions and years.