Arctic sea ice thickness variations from CryoSat-2 satellite altimetry data

Arctic sea ice plays an important role in Earth’s climate and environmental system. Sea ice thickness is one of the most important sea ice parameters. Accurately obtaining the sea ice thickness and its changes has great significance to Arctic and global change research. Satellite altimeters can be used to derive long-term and large-scale changes in sea ice thickness. The leads detection is vital in sea ice thickness estimation by using satellite altimetry. Different leads detection methods are compared with remote sensing images, and results show that the detection method that uses waveform parameters can obtain improved results. The model for the conversion of freeboard to thickness is optimized by considering the incomplete penetration of snow for radar altimeters. We derive the estimates of the Arctic sea ice thickness for November 2010 to December 2019 by using the CryoSat-2 altimetry data. The sea ice thickness from the IceBridge and draft data from the upward-looking sonar are used to validate our thickness results. Validations show that the accuracy of our thickness estimates is within 0.2 m. Variations in the Arctic sea ice thickness are analyzed using the PIOMAS model and air and sea surface temperatures. A sharp increase in sea ice thickness is found in 2014.