Major NASA activities in the Arctic

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Major NASA activities in the Arctic"

Jonas Summers
6 years ago
Views:

1 Major NASA activities in the Arctic

This work is critical to understanding polar feedbacks into global climate, as well as meeting US planning needs in the Arctic; from understanding

2 Arctic sea ice extent and thickness is declining The last four years have seen the lowest four minimum extents ever recorded for Arctic sea ice. NASA s researchers and satellite and aircraft observation tools are global leaders of this work. This work is critical to understanding polar feedbacks into global climate, as well as meeting US planning needs in the Arctic; from understanding environmental change to security and economic decisions Feb-Mar 2003 Feb-Mar 2008 The average thickness of the Arctic s sea ice declined by 30% from 2003 to FARRELL ET AL., JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, 2009

Shifts in sea ice persistence and Chl-a concentration from 2003-2009 Courtesy Frey&Grebmeier Based on SSM/I Sea Ice Concentrations and the GlobColour satellite time series, Take home points:

3 Shifts in sea ice persistence and Chl-a concentration from Courtesy Frey&Grebmeier Based on SSM/I Sea Ice Concentrations and the GlobColour satellite time series, Take home points: Satellites map changes in base of food chain Major contribution to Distributed Biological Observatory Critical to understanding future resources and livelihoods for the Alaskan economy, as well as feedbacks for global carbon budget

4 NASA s ICESCAPE cruise to improve understanding of Arctic ocean ecosystems made the discovery of phytoplankton concentration amongst the highest ever observed anywhere on earth. Even more astounding it was under thick sea ice with limited light penetration.

Unique approaches to understanding the elusive Arctic Mapping ocean currents from satellite: Changing Arctic Ocean Freshwater Pathways Morison, J., R. Kwok, C. Peralta-Ferriz, M. Alkire, I. Rigor, R.

5 Unique approaches to understanding the elusive Arctic Mapping ocean currents from satellite: Changing Arctic Ocean Freshwater Pathways Morison, J., R. Kwok, C. Peralta-Ferriz, M. Alkire, I. Rigor, R. Andersen, and M. Steele. Nature 481, (2012) doi: /nature10705 Sea surface height from ICESat and ocean bottom pressure trends from GRACE show Canada Basin freshwater content increase balanced by decrease in the Eurasian Basin ( ). Chemistry observations show the Canada Basin freshwater increase due to increased presence of Eurasian runoff. Satellite observations show changes due to counterclockwise shift in the ocean pathway of Eurasian runoff forced by strengthening of the west-to-east Arctic Oscillation (AO). This high-ao process likely characterizes the dramatic Arctic Ocean changes since the early 1990s. Climate models must capture the Arctic expression of the AO accurately if they are to project the fate of Arctic freshwater and its effect on climate. Right-Top: ICESat measured sea surface height trends (contours) which determine near surface ocean pressure gradients that drive surface currents (arrows). Bottom: ocean bottom pressure trend minus ICESat sea surface height trend yields countours of steric pressure trends and freshwater content trend.

6 Ice sheet and glacier mass change NASA scientists use a range of satellites, aircraft missions, and other approaches with an overall goal of improving estimates of current and future sea level rise 2003 to Gt/yr Gt/yr 2-33 Gt/yr Gt/yr ELA 2000 m -3 Gt/yr Gt/yr -69 Gt/yr -9 Gt/y r Gt/yr total Images courtesy Larsen, Vaughan, Zwally, Joughin and Luthcke

7 Operation IceBridge Bridging the gap between the ICESat and ICESat-2 missions, NASA is deploying aircraft to monitor the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, as well as sea ice in both regions. IceBridge is also making other key measurements to improve predictive models for ice-sheet evolution. 7

8 IceBridge Trajectory Maps

Comprehensive Imaging of Ice Sheets and Ice Shelves from Top to Bottom with IceBridge Instrument Suite Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica, 2009 Images illustrate the deep trough upstream of the floating

9 Comprehensive Imaging of Ice Sheets and Ice Shelves from Top to Bottom with IceBridge Instrument Suite Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica, 2009 Images illustrate the deep trough upstream of the floating Pine Island Glacier tongue. Also evident are several tributary glaciers that traverse mountainous terrain on the eastern flank of the glacier. Results show the generally excellent correspondence between the ASAID grounding line and subsurface topography, though in some places OIB data can be used to refine grounding line placement. Qualitatively, surface velocity directions are consistent with subglacial topography suggesting that flow divergence with depth may be small. ice surface from ATM and Radarsat (ATM and Jezek) bottom of ice sheet from radar (CReSIS) bathymetry from gravity inversion (Studinger) Image from Jezek and Dhanasekaran (Dhanasekaran M.S Thesis, 2011, The Ohio State University)

10 New Polar activities in planning

Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) 3 sets of 2 beams

Micropulse lidar Low energy High rep-rate 70 cm along-track sampling Ice

Large-scale biomass from vegetation height Waleed Abdalati, ESOC/CIRES,

11 Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) 3 sets of 2 beams density of coverage simultaneous measurement slope and elevation Micropulse lidar Low energy High rep-rate 70 cm along-track sampling Ice sheet mass balance from elevation change Sea ice thickness from freeboard Large-scale biomass from vegetation height Waleed Abdalati, ESOC/CIRES, Univ. of Colorado, IPCC Sea Level Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 21-24,

Remote sensing data can offer regional context, help address uncertainties, and inform and assess models Change in Arctic & Boreal Region (ABR) unfolding faster than anywhere

12 Remote sensing data can offer regional context, help address uncertainties, and inform and assess models Change in Arctic & Boreal Region (ABR) unfolding faster than anywhere else on Earth NASA s Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Program is planning Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), a major field, aircraft, and spacebased remote sensing campaign 12

13 NASA s Arctic datasets

National Snow and Ice Data Center: A NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for the cryosphere Hosts >100 Tb of data, and

improve usability for other disciplines, e.g.

VIS/IR Moderate Resolution MODIS (Terra/Aqua) snow and ice products AVHRR polar data (NOAA series) Satellite & Airborne Altimetry

14 National Snow and Ice Data Center: A NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for the cryosphere Hosts >100 Tb of data, and distributes more than double that each year Includes Earth System Data Records: integrated, multi-year to decadal datasets that improve usability for other disciplines, e.g. freeze-thaw, temp, sea ice motion Passive Microwave AMSR-E (Aqua) AMSR (ADEOS II) SMMR (Nimbus 7) SSM/I, SSMIS (DMSP series) VIS/IR Moderate Resolution MODIS (Terra/Aqua) snow and ice products AVHRR polar data (NOAA series) Satellite & Airborne Altimetry ICESat I/GLAS altimetry and atmospheric lidar data Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) IceBridge AMSR-E 12.5 km Sea Ice Concentration NSIDC: An overview MODIS Monthly Global 14 Snow Cover IceBridge ATM Qfit Data on Landsat Image

Earth System Data Records: integrating and improving usability for other disciplines NASA has made major awards to synthesize satellite records critical to polar work, including: Greenland ice

15 Earth System Data Records: integrating and improving usability for other disciplines NASA has made major awards to synthesize satellite records critical to polar work, including: Greenland ice sheet velocities (InSAR) Antarctic ice sheet velocities (InSAR) Arctic sea ice kinematics Global snow cover (30-yr record) Daily freeze-thaw maps (below) Products at NSIDC Courtesy U. Montana/JPL

$Sea ice cover from 1-day motion Envisat Ron Kwok, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Science uses of ice motion products Assess linear kinematic features (fracture patterns) in new models of anisotropic sea$

16 Shear Vorticity Divergence ESDR (Earth Science Data Record) of Small-Scale Kinematics of the Arctic and Southern Oceans: A new data set based on Envisat Composite deformation fields of the Weddell Sea ice cover from 1-day motion Envisat Ron Kwok, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Science uses of ice motion products Assess linear kinematic features (fracture patterns) in new models of anisotropic sea mechanics Subdaily ice motion for understanding impact of small-scale and short-timescale ice deformation on ice production Study of oceanic heat flux due at shear lines in the ice cover (i.e., doming of the pycnocline) Ice area export at the Nares Strait and Fram Strait Validation of lower resolution ice drift in lower resolution sensors Users: (US) Naval Postgraduate School, U New Mexico U Washingto, JPL (Europe) Nansen Remote Sensing Center, U of Reading, U of Grenoble, Alfred Wegener Institute, Norwegian Polar Insitute, ESA CCI ECV ice drift, U Hamburg (Australia) U of Tasmania MEaSUREs

Shear Total Motion Vorticity Y-motion Divergence X-motion ESDR (Earth Science Data Record) of Small-Scale Kinematics of the Arctic and Southern Oceans: A new data set based on Envisat Composite

17 Shear Total Motion Vorticity Y-motion Divergence X-motion ESDR (Earth Science Data Record) of Small-Scale Kinematics of the Arctic and Southern Oceans: A new data set based on Envisat Composite deformation fields of the Arctic Ocean ice cover from 1-day motion Envisat Ron Kwok, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Description and Objectives Process the Envisat data stream ( ) to construct ESDRs of small-scale ice motion of the Arctic and Southern Oceans; Develop products that take advantage of the temporal (subdaily to 1-day) and spatial sampling scheme of the Envisat mission; Produce mosaics of the Envisat images of the Arctic Ocean; Create a multi-year time series of Fram Strait and Nares Strait sea ice export; Address the use of Sentinel-1 data sets for producing ESDR of the Arctic and Antarctic ice cover. Note: Sentinel-1 data are needed to continue record of changes in small-scale deformation MEaSUREs

18 2000/1 Composite 2005/6 2006/7 2007/8 2008/9 2009/ / /12 Greenland Ice Mapping Project

19 TSX provides more limited coverage but captures most fastmoving outlets at high-resolution and more frequent sampling Both targeted high res (TSX-like) coverage and lower res (RADARSAT-like) coverage are crucial for understanding flow variability in Greenland.

Velocity mapping of the Great Ice Sheets: Antarctica NASA MEaSUREs-1 (2006-2012). PI: E. Rignot, Proj. Scientists J. Mouginot and B.

Goal Assemble and distribute the first true continent-wide ice velocity map of Antarctica.

Work with space agencies (i.e. STG) to gain international support and access to IPY large scale SAR acquisition campaigns.

20 Velocity mapping of the Great Ice Sheets: Antarctica NASA MEaSUREs-1 ( ). PI: E. Rignot, Proj. Scientists J. Mouginot and B. Scheuchl Objective Develop and distribute a new set of Earth System Data Records (ESDR) of ice velocity in Antarctica. Goal Assemble and distribute the first true continent-wide ice velocity map of Antarctica. This project would not have been possible without the support from STG Approach Build on existing extensive team expertise and scale up for continentwide processing. Work with space agencies (i.e. STG) to gain international support and access to IPY large scale SAR acquisition campaigns. Ice velocity and grounding line products available at NSIDC Achievements Multiple continent products completed: First ever continent-wide velocity map Interferometric grounding line map Time series of velocity in key areas Key publications in high profile journals. Significant international media attention. Widespread use of the ESDRs in the science community.

21 Ice Velocity Mapping of the Antarctic Ice Sheet NASA MEaSUREs-2 ( ). PI: Eric Rignot, Proj. Scientists J. Mouginot and B. Scheuchl Objective Produce and distribute Earth System Data Records (ESDR) of ice velocity in Antarctica. Goals Time series of ice velocity from 1996, 2000, , to present. PSTG support is critical for project success (a) 100 km A 1 A 2 B 1 B C 2 C 1 D E 1 1 D2 E 2 F 1 G 1 F 2 G2 Ice Velocity (km/yr) (b) Eastern IS Thwaites Ice Tongue Crosson Dotson Pine Island Gl. Thwaites Gl. Haynes Gl. Pope Gl. Smith Gl. 100 km Kohler Gl. Vel. difference (km/yr) < >3 < >1.5 Evolution of ice velocity in the Amundsen Sea Embayment area Approach Build time series of selected regions and ice sheet wide mapping on select years. Historic data sets (RAMP 2000, ERS ). Work with space agencies to plan and implement future data acquisitions. Advise NISAR project team on ice sheet requirements (separate contract). Achievements: Amundsen Sea. Rignot, E., J. Mouginot, M. Morlighem, H. Seroussi, and B. Scheuchl (2014), Widespread, rapid grounding line retreat of Pine Island, Thwaites, Smith, and Kohler glaciers, West Antarctica, from 1992 to 2011, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, , doi: /2014gl Mouginot, J., E. Rignot, and B. Scheuchl (2014), Sustained increase in ice discharge from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, from 1973 to 2013, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, , doi: /2013gl Widespread international media coverage of the findings. US: reached two out of three national TV news broadcasts and the top tier newspapers in the country. Time series of Amundsen sea since 1975 released at NSIDC.

Ice Velocity Mapping of the Antarctic Ice Sheet NASA MEaSUREs-2 (2013-2018). PI: Eric Rignot, Proj. Scientists J. Mouginot and B.

Antarctic campaigns of RADARSAT-2 in 2013. Limited access to TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X. Access to Landsat 8 for coastal mapping (not planned initially).

100 km Kohler Gl. Vel. difference (km/yr) <0.0015 0.01 0.1 1 >3 <-1.5-0.1-0.01 0.01 0.1 >1.

22 Ice Velocity Mapping of the Antarctic Ice Sheet NASA MEaSUREs-2 ( ). PI: Eric Rignot, Proj. Scientists J. Mouginot and B. Scheuchl What we have, thanks to PSTG: (a) (b) Access to RAMP-1, ERS-1 archive from , all ALOS PALSAR Access to Sentinel-1 starting January 1, Antarctic campaigns of RADARSAT-2 in Limited access to TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X. Access to Landsat 8 for coastal mapping (not planned initially). 100 km A 1 A 2 B 1 B 2 C 2 C 1 D E 1 1 D2 E 2 F 1 G 1 F 2 G2 Ice Velocity (km/yr) Eastern IS Thwaites Ice Tongue Crosson Dotson Pine Island Gl. Thwaites Gl. Haynes Gl. Pope Gl. Smith Gl. 100 km Kohler Gl. Vel. difference (km/yr) < >3 < >1.5 Evolution of ice velocity in the Amundsen Sea Embayment area What we need, with the help from PSTG: More systematic acquisitions from Sentinel1a/1b over Antarctica using a fixed set of tracks in order to build time series at the continental scale. Access to COSMO Skymed for short time repeat and grounding line mapping in Amundsen Sea and other key sectors. Access to ALOS-2 PALSAR planned data acquisitions (acquisitions planned but data access is limited). Larger access to TerraSAR-X archive. COSMO Skymed grounding line of Petermann Gl. In 2013.

23 Agency Steps Towards responding to User Needs

NASA s Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) site Bridging the gap to help IARPC agencies and scientists lacking remote sensing experience through websites, viewers, and integrated datasets to

24 NASA s Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) site Bridging the gap to help IARPC agencies and scientists lacking remote sensing experience through websites, viewers, and integrated datasets to help them put Arctic change in context. This site allows DBO researchers quick access to key remote sensing datasets for marine observations: Wind speed Ocean color (Chlorophyll) Sea surface temperature Sea ice concentration Cloud cover Surface pressure

25 Satellite Observations of Arctic Change Satellite records of the critical Arctic variables some spanning three decades. Allows users to see change across entire Arctic down to pixel level of the data. Temperature Freeze thaw Vegetation change (NDVI) Water vapor Snow cover Sea ice cover Others in development

K&C Phase 4 Status report. Ice Sheet Monitoring using ALOS-2. University of California, Irvine 2 JPL

K&C Phase 4 Status report. Ice Sheet Monitoring using ALOS-2. University of California, Irvine 2 JPL K&C Phase 4 Status report Ice Sheet Monitoring using ALOS-2 Bernd Scheuchl 1, Jeremie Mouginot 1, Eric Rignot 1,2 1 University of California, Irvine 2 JPL Science Team meeting #24 Tokyo, Japan, January