Rignot Research Group

Two new Earth System Science Data Records, which were generated at the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine in collaboration with Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are now available for download at NSIDC:

1. Ice Velocity Map of Antarctica from Satellite Radar Interferometry (Version 1.0)
2. Antarctic Grounding Line from Differential Satellite Radar Interferometry (Version 1.0)

These data sets, part of the NASA Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program, provide the first comprehensive, high-resolution, digital mosaic of ice motion in Antarctica as well as 17 years of extensive high-resolution mapping of grounding lines in Antarctica. Both data sets were assembled from multiple satellite interferometric synthetic-aperture radar data. They are now available to the scientific community as well as the interested public via the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Spaceborne SAR acquisitions were provided through data grants from the following agencies:

• ALOS PALSAR: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
• ENVISAT ASAR, ERS-1, ERS-2: European Space Agency (ESA)
• RADARSAT, RADARSAT-2: Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
• Data acquisitions between 2006 and 2009 are courtesy of the IPY Space Task Group

If you have any questions, please contact NSIDC User Services

(1) Ice Velocity Map of Antarctica from Satellite Radar Interferometry (Version 1.0)

This data set provides the first comprehensive, high-resolution, digital mosaic of ice motion in Antarctica assembled from multiple satellite interferometric synthetic-aperture radar data. Data were acquired during the International Polar Year 2007 to 2009. This map was built from spring 2009 data from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)'s and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA)'s RADARSAT-2, spring 2007-2008-2009 data from European Space Agency (ESA)'s Envisat ASAR, and fall 2007-2008 data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) PALSAR provided by the Alaska Satellite Facility, complemented by patches of CSA's RADARSAT-1 data from fall 2000 and ESA's Earth Remote Sensing Satellites ERS-1/2 data from spring 1996. Each radar instrument contributes its unique coverage and performance level. The final mosaic assembles 900 satellite tracks and more than 3,000 orbits of radar data.

Rignot, E., J. Mouginot, and B. Scheuchl (2011), Ice Flow of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, Science, doi 10.1126/science.1208336.

For more information go to: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0484.html

(2) Antarctic Grounding Line from Differential Satellite Radar Interferometry (Version 1.0)

The data set provides detailed mappings of the location of the Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding line, derived from satellite data collected between 1992 and 2009. Parameters include latitude, longitude, sensor, and up to 4 orbits and acquisitions dates. Two interferograms are required to perform differential interferometry. This requires a minimum of 3 consecutive acquisitions of a single sensor. In some cases two sets of two consecutive acquisitions were used to generate the grounding line. In the case of the ERS-1/ERS-2 Tandem mission, two Tandem interferograms (4 acquisitions) are used for grounding line detection.

Rignot, E., J. Mouginot, and B. Scheuchl. 2011. Antarctic Grounding Line Mapping from Differential Satellite Radar Interferometry, Geophyical Research Letters, 38, L10504, doi:10.1029/2011GL047109.

For more information go to: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0498.html