Innovative Sea and Lake Ice Products from VIIRS

Operational sea, river, and lake ice products designed for the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) include ice concentration, ice surface temperature, ice age and thickness. These products are also being routinely generated at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They are vital for monitoring global ice conditions and understanding the changing cryosphere. For better monitoring of rapid changes and understanding the physical processes, new and innovative ice products are needed. Here, we present various experimental products that utilize the high spatial resolution VIIRS data. First, we show an all-weather sea ice concentration product that blends lower resolution passive microwave AMSR2 data with high resolution VIIRS information. Further, we show ice products that utilize the VIIRS high spatial resolution I-band with a nominal pixel size of 375 m. Lastly, we will show an experimental ice motion product and examples of level-3 ice deformation and shear products that utilize the various ice motion observations. Examples of the products and some validation studies that compare these datasets to other satellite-based products are presented. Results show that these products are meeting or exceeding the system requirements for accuracy and uncertainty. How the products could be used in ice operations and how they can be used to improve sea ice forecasting over the polar regions and the beyond is discussed. This work demonstrates the usefulness of having a suite of ice products from JPSS satellites for marine navigation, weather forecasting, ecosystem, and climate research.