Characteristics of the Snow Cover in East and West Antarctica and Their 20-Year Trends Retrieved from Satellite Remote Sensing Data

Abstract

The aim of this study was to make a comparative analysis of the state of the snow surface in East and West Antarctica, including changes in snow cover characteristics during the past two decades. To do so, we used the ASAR (Antarctic Snow Albedo Retriever) algorithm, which processes satellite data and retrieves an effective snow grain size and a fraction of rocks not covered by snow, to process the MODIS data throughout the entire period of its operation (up to now). We have chosen several test areas (approximately 30 × 30 km2) to study the state of the snow cover on Enderby Land (East Antarctica), on the coast of the Ross Sea (the Transantarctic Mountains), and the Antarctic Peninsula (West Antarctica). As a result, we have plotted and analyzed the time series of the effective snow grain size and rock fraction in these areas across the last 20 years. We have found weak negative trends for the effective grain size on the coast of Enderby Land and the Ross Sea. The rock fraction does not demonstrate any trend. The study of snow cover trends on a continental scale can contribute to the investigation of environmental changes in Antarctica.

Keywords

• snow cover
• remote sensing
• East and West Antarctica