Retrieval of Arctic surface conditions and cloud properties from AVHRR data: a time series for the Beaufort Sea

Generation of an integrated set of remotely-sensed products for sea-ice monitoring and modeling is tested using AVHHR data of the Arctic Beaufort Sea region for June 1992 through July 1993. The resulting product set includes a suite of parameters applicable to energy balance calculations and monitoring of detailed sea ice processes. Using calibrated and navigated AVHRR 1.1 km imagery, cloud fraction, ice surface temperature, surface albedo, downwelling radiative fluxes, ice motion vectors, and cloud properties such as optical depth, phase and droplet effective radius are estimated. The authors describe the processing strategy and use these products to summarize conditions during the study period.