Cryosphere · Observations
New weather and climate research on cryosphere with observations as the main approach, one page per paper.
All summaries
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CryosphereRadar images from space can track emperor penguin colonies through the polar winter
Free Sentinel-1 radar images show emperor penguin colonies in winter darkness, and combined with summer optical images they reveal year-round colony movement.
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CryosphereSlush covers far more of Greenland's ice sheet than lakes, channels and crevasses combined
A nine-year satellite map shows slush is the largest mapped surface meltwater feature on the Greenland Ice Sheet, growing and reaching higher in high-melt years.
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CryosphereNew 60-year Swiss snow maps track stations well, except at low elevations
A quantile-mapped snow model gives 1 km daily Swiss snow data since 1962 that works well above 1000 m and for yearly or regional use, but is weaker at low elevations, single grid points and short time spans.
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CryosphereSMOS satellite product detects first autumn soil freezing, but later than ground sensors
The updated SMOS freeze–thaw product tracks when northern soils first freeze in autumn fairly well, with a lag of several days, and works poorly in spring and in areas with radio interference.