The AMSRIce03 validation project: activities and results

A multidisciplinary, multi-institution team of scientists has been working for over three years to evaluate the performance of sea ice parameter algorithms applied to data from the AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - EOS) carried aboard NASA's Aqua platform. The AMSR-E data and derived sea ice geophysical products have been compared against a variety of measurements, including ground truth data from an ice field camp, imagery from aerosondes and an aircraft-borne microwave radiometer, and imagery from RADARSAT, MODIS, and AVHRR. Arctic ice environments examined include first-year and multiyear pack ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, polynyas and flaw leads in the Bering Sea, and the ice edge. This paper will outline the AMSRIce03 project, cover the validation methodology in detail, and discuss the results and their implications for use of sea ice products derived from the AMSR-E.