Influence of melt ponds on microwave sensors' sea ice concentration retrieval algorithms

The introduced MODIS melt pond fractions and it's corresponding sea ice concentration data set are valuable sources for multiple applications in Climate sciences. Knowledge about the occurrence of melt ponds is essential to properly document the energy balance on the sea ice surface during summer. Additionally, melt pond fractions can be used to quantify the uncertainties in sea ice concentration data derived from passive microwave imagery. As shown in Figure 1, the MODIS melt pond fractions can be used to estimate the influence of melt ponds on the sea ice concentration determination from microwave sensors like AMSR-E. In this example, all AMSR-E algorithms are clearly underestimating MODIS sea ice concentration by around 20-30%. In the final paper a detailed analysis of the uncertainties caused by melt ponds and an assessment of the different sea ice concentration retrieval methods will be given.