Determining Variability in Arctic Sea Ice Pressure Ridge Topography With ICESat‐2

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the characteristics and distribution of pressure ridges in Arctic sea ice using a novel algorithm applied to ICESat‐2 surface heights. We derive the frequency and height of individual pressure ridges and map surface roughness and ridging intensity at the basin scale over three winters between 2019 and 2021. Comparisons with near‐coincident airborne lidar data show that not only can we detect individual ridges 5.6 m wide, but also measure sail height more accurately than the existing ICESat‐2 sea ice height product. We find large regional variability in ridge morphology not only related to parent ice type but also geographic location. Ridge sails are best represented by log‐normal distributions while surface roughness is well fit by an exponential normal function. Our results reveal that high‐resolution satellite altimetry is valuable for characterizing sea ice deformation at short length‐scales and delivers observations that will advance ridging parameterizations in sea ice models.

Keywords

• sea ice
• remote sensing
• Arctic region
• dynamics
• properties