Retrieval of ice sheet temperature profile in antarctica by using smos data: A combination of glaciological and microwave emission models

The internal ice sheet temperature is a key parameter for the understanding of the ice sheet dynamics which, at present, is available only from glaciological models or in the few boreholes where temperature has been measured. From the analysis of space-borne L-band data from SMOS, collected over Antarctica, it was proved that they are sensitive to the ice sheet temperature profile. In this paper it is demonstrated that starting from satellite data and using a combination of glaciological and microwave emission model it is possible to retrieve this important geophysical parameter at continental scale.