Table 1: RMS residual of individual least-squares fits for each
traverse route.
| Parameter fit | Traverse | n | Residual RMS |
| A (linear and cubic) [| South — [| 70 | 0.034 |
West 82 0.19
East 93 0.16
LGB 36 0.051
B (linear) South 70 0.034
West 82 0.24
East 93 0.2
LGB 36 0.056
B1 (cubic) South 70 0.039
West 82 0.22
East 93 0.19
LGB 36 0.052
4 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
This work forms an important first step in establishing an empiri-
cal link between SMB and remotely-sensed scatterometer-derived
parameters in Antarctica. While significant spread in SMB re-
trieval is observed from challenging surface conditions, i.e, from
the Wilkes Land West and East traverse routes, it is encourag-
ing to see similarly accurate retrievals of SMB values from geo-
graphically distant locations and from different altitudes/snowfall
regimes.
We aim to extend this work by empirically linking SMB to scatter-
ometer-derived parameter retrievals using more extensive ground
validation, i.e., as in Lenaerts et al. (2012). Furthermore, addi-
tional ground truthing will be provided by the Norway-US tra-
verse ground penetrating radar data, which gives long-term SMB
average from the deposition of the Tambora volcanic eruption
emissions (71816) to 2007, high on the Antarctic plateau (Müller
et al., 2010).
It is clear that more accurate SMB retrievals will require the use
of complementary remote sensing data, either in the form of dif-
ferent frequency scatterometer data (altering the penetration depth,
volume backscatter from snow grains, and surface backscatter
from sastrugi/microrelief), fully polarimetric scatterometer data
(allowing better characterisation of surface scattering), visible/
near IR surface grain size data, or inclusion of passive microwave
emission data. The last option, a fusion of passive and active mi-
crowave observations, is being addressed in current work.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the Australian Government's Co-
operative Research Centres Program through the Antarctic Cli-
mate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC).
ASCAT Level 1B data were provided by the EUMETSAT Data
Centre version 3 (http://www.eumetsat.int). The authors wish to
thank J. Jacka and B. Legrésy for discussions about snow/firn
structure/metamorphism and radar backscatter from snow/firn re-
spectively. The authors also wish to thank M. “Duk” Craven for
providing and assisting with the LGB traverse data, and G. Hy-
land for helpful comments on the manuscript.
On the 23rd March 2012 at the age of 51 Neil Adams passed
away suddenly. He leaves behind him a tremendous legacy to the
Antarctic and meteorological community. Neil has been nation-
ally and internationally recognised for his dedication to, and role
in, advancing the science and wide-spread application of meteo-
rology particularly in the fields of data presentation, high-latitude
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B8, 2012
XXII ISPRS Congress, 25 August — 01 September 2012, Melbourne, Australia
576
meteorology and service provision. Neil contributed to several
national and international polar-related committees/forums. His
many authored and co-authored peer-reviewed papers are further
testament to his inherent professionalism and expertise. Neil is
sadly missed by his many colleagues in the Antarctic community.
Biography provided by P. Reid, Australian Bureau of Meteorol-
ogy (Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research).
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