Abstract
The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on ICESat-2
offers a new remote sensing capability to measure complex sea ice
surface topography. We demonstrate the retrieval of six sea ice
parameters from ICESat-2/ATLAS data: surface roughness, ridge height,
ridge frequency, melt pond depth, floe size distribution and lead
frequency. Our results establish that these properties can be observed
in high fidelity, across broad geographic regions and ice conditions. We
resolve features as narrow as 7 m, and achieve a vertical height
precision of 0.01 m, representing a significant advance in resolution
over previous satellite altimeters. ICESat-2 employs a year-round
observation strategy spanning all seasons, across both the Arctic and
Southern Oceans. Because of its higher resolution, coupled with the
spatial and temporal extent of data acquisition, ICESat-2 observations
may be used to investigate time-varying, dynamic and thermodynamic sea
ice processes.