Spaceborne Observations of the Polar Regions Global Inter-agency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY)

1
Spaceborne Observations of the Polar
RegionsGlobal Inter-agency IPY Polar Snapshot
Year (GIIPSY)

• Summary of observations suited to spaceborne
  systems planned to be operating during the IPY
• Heritage documents include
• IGOS Cryosphere Theme Report
• ISMASS Report
• NRC Decadal Survey Climate Panel Report (in prep)
• Prepared by the GIIPSY Project Group

2
Climate Change and Variability

• If current climate projections are correct, then
  climate changes of the next ten to twenty years
  will significantly and noticeably impact human
  activities. This impact will shift research from
  climate change detection to research on the
  predictive capability necessary to protect life
  and property, promote economic vitality, enable
  environmental stewardship, and support a broad
  range of decision-makers.
• 
  
  (NRC Decadal Survey, Climate Panel)

3

Climate Change and the IPY

• The IPY provides an international framework for
  understanding high-latitude climate change and
  predicting world wide impacts.
• Spaceborne technology offers unique capabilities
  for obtaining essential data for predictive
  models.
• IPY era spaceborne instrumentation represents a
  technological leap beyond the capabilities of
  the IGY

4
Science and Observational Requirements on
Spaceborne Systems During the IPY
The following IPY observational requirements can
be best met, and perhaps only met, through a
coordinated effort by the space-faring nations to
develop and implement a virtual system. We
envision the virtual system to consist of the
current suite of Earth observing satellites, the
associated ground segment, and the processsing
and distribution architecture.
5
Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets
Science Goals Understand the polar ice sheets
sufficiently to predict their contribution to
global sea level rise
Jacobshavn Glacier
6
Observation Requirements Ice Sheets
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Instrument Type Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Temperature IR Radiances Seasonal Entire Ice Sheet Thermal IR Imager Thermal IR 1 K MODIS A-ATSR
Ice sheet maps, Coastline, grounding line Shear margins Moderate resolution images Seasonal Entire Ice Sheet Visible Imager Visible bands 200 m MODIS MERIS
Ice Mass Change Gravity Anomaly and Gradients Seasonal Entire Ice Sheet Potential Field Sensor N/A GRACE GOCE
Surface Temperature Surface melt Accumulation rate Passive Microwave Radiances Daily Entire Ice Sheet Scanning Microwave radiometers L-Ka band AMSR-E SSMI SMOS
Surface Albedo Snow grain size Visible and IR Reflectance Seasonal Entire Ice Sheet Visible/Thermal IR Imager Visible SWIR bands Cloud masking MODIS MERIS
Surface Elevation and Topography Signal Travel Time Seasonal Entire Ice Sheet Laser and Radar Altimeters InSAR Microwave to optical 10 cm accuracy on elevation change ICESat Envisat RA-2 CryoSat TanDEM X
Coastline, grounding line, Crevasses High Resolution Imagery 5 year repeat Entire Ice Sheet SAR Optical Imager L, C, X Minimize acquisition duration, lt25 m Radarsat-2 ALOS ICEsat Envisat ASAR TerraSAR-X Landsat ASTER RISAT
Surface Velocity Accumulation rate Complex SAR image pair 5 year repeat Entire Ice Sheet InSAR C, (L, X?) Minimize acquisition maximize coherence Radarsat-2 TerraSAR-X TandDEM-X RISAT
Surface Velocity Complex SAR image pair Seasonal Fast Glaciers InSAR C, (L,X?) Maximize coherence Radarsat-2 ERS-2 TerraSAR-X Envisat ASAR TanDEM-X ALOS PALSAR RISAT
7
Arctic and Southern Ocean Sea Ice

• Science Goals
• Understand sea ice sufficiently to predict its
  response to and influence on global climate
  change and biological processes.

8
Observation Requirements Sea Ice
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Instrument Type Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Ice Extent Concentration Ice Type/Age Melt Onset Microwave Radiance Radar backscatter Dailly Arctic ocean and marginal seas Southern Ocean Microwave Radiometer L-Ka band AMSR-E SSMI QuikScat ASCAT SMOS Oceansat-2 (Scatt)
Surface Temperature IR Radiance Daily IR Imager IR MODIS AVHRR A-ATSR
Ice Motion Surface Albedo High and Moderate Resolution Images Daily SAR and Optical Images L, C, X band Optical MODIS AVHRR RADARSAT-2 Envisat ASAR ALOS TerraSAR-X RISAT
Leads and ridge distribution Melt pond coverage High Resolution Imagery Daily SAR amd Optical L, C, X band SPOT LandSAT ASTER Envisat TerraSAR-X Radarsat-2 ALOS RISAT
Snow Cover Thickness Microwave Radiance Daily Microwave Radiometer C-Ka Band 25 km AMSR-E SSM/I
Sea ice biology Visible imagery Dailry Ocean color imager Optical Oceansat-2 OCM MODIS
Ice thickness from freeboard Signal travel Time Daily Laser and Radar Altimeters ICESat Cryosat
9
High Latitude Seasonal Snow Cover

• Science Goals
• Measure how much water is stored as seasonal snow
  and its variability.

10
Observation Requirements High Latitude Seasonal
Snow Cover
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Instrument Type Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Snow Extent Snow Thickness SWE Microwave and optical radiance Daily Arctic Wide Microwave Radiometer, Visible IR Imager MODIS AMSR-E SSMI SMOS
Surface Temperature IR Radiance Daily Arctic Wide IR Radiometer Thermal IR MODIS A-ATSR
Snow Thickness Range Seasonal Arctic Wide Laser Altimeter Visible ICESat
Surface Albedo Optical reflectance Seasonal Arctic Wide Visible imager Visible and IR Cloud masking MERIS A-ATSR MODIS SPOT VGT
11
Glaciers and Ice Caps
Ellesmere Island
Science Goals Understand glaciers and ice caps
within the context of their hydrologic and
biologic systems and their contributions to
global processes including sea level rise.
Landsat MSS Alaska Range
InSAR Svartisen, Norway 3d flow
12
Observational Requirements Glaciers and Ice Caps
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Instrument Type Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Temperature IR Radiances Seasonal Canadian Arctic Alaska Svalbard Iceland Eurasian Arctic Thermal IR Imager Thermal IR 1 K MODIS
Surface maps, Glacier margins, Calving snout Moderate resolution images Seasonal Visible Imager Visible bands 200 m MODIS LandSAT ASTER
Surface Temperature Surface melt Accumulation rate Passive Microwave Radiances Daily Scanning Microwave radiometers L-Ka band Larger ice caps only AMSR-E SSMI SMOS
Surface Topograpy Signal travel time Seasonal Laser and Radar Altimeters InSAR Microwave to optcal 10 cm accuracy ICESat CryoSAT TanDEM X
Crevasses velocity from feature retracking Complex SAR image pairs 5 year repeat SAR Multispectral imager L, C, X, optical Minimize acquisition period, lt25 m Radarsat-2 ALOS Envisat TerraSAR-X SPOT ASTER RISAT
Surface Velocity Complex SAR image pairs Seasonal InSAR C, (L,X?) Maximize coherence Radarsat-2 TerraSAR-X Envisat ALOS RiSAT
13
Ice and the Polar Atmosphere

• Science Goals
• Understand the interactions between the
  changing polar atmosphere and the changes in sea
  ice, glacial ice, snow extent, and surface
  melting.

14
Observation Requirements Ice and Atmosphere
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Instrument Type Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Surface melt Clouds Microwave and Optical Radiance Daily Both Polar Regions Microwave Radiometer L-Ka Band AMSR-E SSMI SMOS AVHRR MODIS TOVS AIRS
Precipitation/ Acccumulation Microwave IR and optiocal Radiance Microwave backscatter Daily Microwave and optical Radiometer Scatterometer L-Ka band Visible AMSR-E AVHRR NSCAT AMSU-A AMSU-b
Snow Fall Amount Optical Imager Daily Optical Imager Visible MODIS
Albedo Visible and IR Radiance Daily Optical and IR Imager Visible MODIS A-ATSR
Wind profiles Optical backscatter Daily Both Polar Regions Doppler LIDAR Visible ADM-Aeolus
Tropospheric Wind Cloud tracking Optical radiances Daily Both Polar Regions Optical Imager MODIS
15
The End to End System
To include Svalbard and Antarctic Stations

• IPY science goals can be realized through
  collaboration on the end-to-end system of
• Sensors and Spacecraft
• Acquisition Planning
• Receiving Ground Stations
• Processing Facilities
• Calibration and Validation

Additionally, plans should include suborbital
campaigns where there may be a need to tie
interrupted spaceborne observations (e.g. ERS-2
to IceSAT to Envisat RA2) that bracket the IPY
period.
16
New Technical Innovation
The IPY is a scientific endeavour. Yet it is
likely that the IPY investigations will also
identify new technical requirements and
approaches. A recommendation to the flight
agencies is to seed the most promising ideas so
as to prepare for next generation observations.

17
Anticipated Requirements on Future SystemsSome
Examples
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Possible Instrument Type Possible Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Ice Sheet Thickness Signal travel time 5 years Ice Sheet Radar P-band 20 m accuracy TBD
Glacier Thickness Signal travel time 5 years Arctic Glaciers Radar P-band 20 m accuracy TBD
Sea ice snow cover thickness Signal travel time Weekly Ice covered waters Radar Ultrawide band 5 cm accuracy TBD
Englacial Layers Signal travel time 5 Years Glaciers and Ice Sheets Radar Ultrawide band Few meters TBD
Permafrost type and extent TBD Seasonal Arctic Wide TBD TBD TBD TBD
Ice Motion SAR SLC Annual to 5 year Polar wide SAR C (L,X) 8 day repeat or shorter, 200 m baselines or less, L/R look TBD
Anticipated New Applications of Existing Systems
Geophysical Variable Intermediate Product Observation Interval Spatial Scale Possible Instrument Type Possible Wavelength Special requirement Potential System
Ice Sheet internal temperature Microwave radiance Annual Ice sheet wide Radiometer as sounder L-band 10 m accuracy SMOS
18
Accomplishing the IPY Snapshot
Aircraft and in-situ Sounders and GPR Systems
METOP
Aqua Terra
DMSP
GRACE
MODIS / ASTER
ASCAT
SSMI
AMSR-E
AVHRR
ERS-2
Envisat
IceSat
ASAR MERIS / A-ATSR
GOCE
HRVIR / VGT
PALSAR PRISM / AVNIR-2
H
Gravity
19
Cryosphere Satellite Missions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ASAR/Envisat C-band
GMES S-1
SAR/ERS
RADARSAT-3
RADARSAT-2 C-band
RADARSAT-1 C-band
RISAT/ C-band
PALSAR/ALOS L-band
COSMO-SKYMED X-band
TERRASAR-X X-band
Wind Scat/ERS
Seawinds/QuikSCAT
Ku-Scat/OCEANSAT-2
ICESAT
ICESAT-2
GMES S-3
CRYOSAT-2
GRACE
GOCE
SMOS
MODIS AMSR-E/EOS-Aqua
AMSR/GCOM-W
OLS SSMI/DMSPAVHRR AMSU/NOAA
NPOESS C1
VIIRS/NPP
IPY
HY-1
20
GIIPSY Strategy

• Specify data requirements
• Identify those requirements which will be
  satisfied through the routine operations (eg
  MODIS, MERIS)
• For routine observations, work with flight
  agencies to assure that data are
  available/archived in some standardized fashion
• Identify those requirements that can only be
  satisfed by non-routine tasking, processing and
  distribution (eg SAR, InSAR, high resolution
  optical). Work with the flight agencies to
  acquire these data in a fashion that distributes
  the operational load.
• Following selection of projects through the
  national A.O.s, identify whether any legacy data
  sets are absent from the acquisition plans. Make
  necessary requests.

21
GIIPSY Plans and Accomplishments

• ESA IPY Data A.O.
• CSA RADARSAT-1 archive access
• U.S. NASA and NSF funds for ALOS processing
• GIIPSY Data Requirements Document
• GIIPSY meeting planned for Fall AGU
• WMO sponsored meeting of international flight
  agencies

22
GIIPSY Participants
Robin Bell Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
Ian Allison Australian Antarctic Division
Barry Goodison Environment Canada
Roger Barry National Snow and Ice Data Centre
Chris Rapley British Antarctic Survey
Irena Hajnsek DLR
Prasad Gogineni University of Kansas
Fumihiko Nishio Chiba University
Vicky Lytle Director CliC IPO
Jeff Key University of Wisconsin
Wen Jiahong Shanghai Normal University
John Cooper NASA GSFC
Katy Farness The Ohio State University
Costas Armenakis NRCan
Flavio Parmiggiani ISAC CNR
John Crawford Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Helen Fricker Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Mark Parsons National Snow and Ice Data Centre
Vijay K. Agarwal Space Applications Centre (ISRO)
Paul Briand Canadian Space Agency
Dean Flett Canadian Ice Service
Rick Forster University of Utah
Ben Holt Jet Propulsion Laboratory
John Curlander Vexcel Corporation
Harry Stern University of Washington
Nettie LaBelle-Hamer Alaska Satellite Facility
Robert Bindschadler Goddard Space Flight Center
Bernard Minster Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Hong Xing Liu Texas AM University
Waleed Abdalati NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jonathan Bamber University of Bristol
Jay Zwally NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jack Kohler Norsk Polar Institute
Preben Gudmandsen Technical University of Denmark
Duncan Wingham University College London
Jason Box The Ohio State University
Don Perovich USA CRREL
Hong Gyoo Sohn Yonsei University
Ted Scambos National Snow and Ice Data Centre
23
GIIPSY Participants
Satyendra_Bhandari Space Applications Centre (ISRO)
Chris Elfering National Academies
Sheldon Drobot University of Colorado
E Dongchen Wuhan University
Chunxia Zhou Wuhan University
David Long Brigham Young University
Stein Sandven Nansen Centre (NERSC)
Charles Randell PolarView Consortium (C-CORE)
Pablo Clemente-Colon National Ice Centre
Joerg Haarpaintner NORUT
Dirk Geudtner Canadian Space Agency
Mike Demuth Natural Resources Canada
Ola Grabak European Space Agency-ESRIN
Jeff Kargel US Geological Survey
Andrew Flemming British Antarctic Survey
Guoping Li China National Space Administration
Surendra Parashar Canadian Space Agency
Rune Solberg Norwegian Computing Center
Rene Forsberg Danish National Space Centre
Jeanne Sauber GSFC
Helmut Rott University of Innsbruck
Ron Kwok JPL
Andrew Flemming BAS
Anne Walker Met. Canada
Dorothy Hall GSFC
Niels Reeh Danish Tech. Univ.
Mark Drinkwater ESA ESTEC (GIIPSY co-lead)
Kenneth Jezek Ohio State University (GIIPSY co-lead)
Ian Joughin Univ. Washington
Leif Toudal Pedersen Danish Technical University
Robert Thomas E.G.G
Jinro Ukita Chiba University, Japan
Frank Paul University of Zurich
Soren Andersen Danish Meteorological Institute
Valery Vuglinsky St. Petersburg State University
Jerry Brown International Permafrost Association
Claude Duguay Unversity of Alaska
Roger DeAbreu Canadian Ice Service
24
Suggested List of Agency Representatives
ISRO Dr. Vijay K. Agarwal Group Director,
Meteorology Oceanography Group Project
Director, SATCORE-II Space Applications Centre
(ISRO), Bopal Campus Ahmedabad 380 015 INDIA Dr.
Satyendra Bhandari Senior Scientist, Remote
Sensing 6046, Space Applications Centre (ISRO),
Bopal Campus-ISRO Ahmedabad - 380 015 INDIA
Russian Space Agency Korean Space
Agency Eumetsat Lars Prahm Ernst
Koenemann NOAA Pablo Clemente Colon Bill
Pichel WMO Eduard Sarukhanian Tillman Mohr
Operational User Representation National Ice
Center Pablo Clemente-Colon Canadian
Ice Centre Mike Manore Dean Flett ESA GMES
PolarView Consortium Charles Randell Data
Centre Representation Alaska SAR Facility (and US
ALOS Node) Nettie Labelle-Hamer Roger
Barry Mark Parsons NSIDC

• NASA
• Craig Dobson
• Seelye Martin, Waleed Abdalati, Jack Kaye, Jay
  Zwally
• ESA
• Mark Drinkwater
• Yves-Louis Desnos
• Henri Laur Envisat Mission Manager
• Bianca Hoersch Third Party Mission Manager
• Wolfgang Lengert ERS-2 Mission Manager
• China National Space Administration
• LI Guoping
• Department of General Planning
• China National Space Administration
• CSA
• Guy Seguin
• Surendra Parashar