Leveraging Polarized Ku- and C-band Radar Backscatter Time Series for Sea Ice Thickness Prediction using Random Forest

Landfast sea ice supports travel, hunting, and access to traditional areas in Arctic communities, but winter fractures can create hazards. Using satellite radar, we examined 48 fractures near Tuktoyaktuk across six ice seasons. Fractures were associated most strongly with elevated winds, particularly land-originating winds, while temperature, tides, lunar phase, and water-level anomalies showed no comparable association. These findings may support improved sea-ice monitoring and safer travel.

This study examines how changing weather is affecting sea ice near the Arctic community of Tuktoyaktuk in Canada. Using satellite images and weather records, we found that stronger winds from certain directions are causing the sea ice to break more often in winter. These changes pose risks for local people who depend on stable ice for travel and hunting. Our findings help understand how climate change is making Arctic ice less reliable and more dangerous.

Snow on sea ice is vital for near-shore sea ice geophysical and biological processes. Past studies have measured snow depths using the satellite altimeters Cryosat-2 and ICESat-2 (Cryo2Ice), but estimating sea surface height from leadless landfast sea ice remains challenging. Snow depths from Cryo2Ice are compared to in situ data after adjusting for tides. Realistic snow depths are retrieved, but differences in roughness, satellite footprints, and snow geophysical properties are identified.