The melt anomaly of 2002 on the Greenland Ice Sheet from active and passive microwave satellite observations

Active and passive microwave satellite data are used to map snowmelt extent and duration on the Greenland ice sheet. The passive microwave ( PM) data reveal the extreme melt extent of 690,000 km 2 in 2002 as compared with an average extent of 455,000 km 2 from 1979 - 2003. A statistical analysis of the melt time series affirms an increased melt extent earlier in the melt season. The QuikSCAT (QSCAT or AM) analysis for 1999 to 2004 confirms the extreme melt situation in 2002. QSCAT data show a significant increase in melt season length over several areas in 2003. SSM/I and QSCAT melt data reveal that the later detects melt earlier and is more sensitive to surface melt. QSCAT detects an earlier stage of melt and SSM/I detects a later stage of melt. The SSM/I XGPR melt extent is approximately confined to the QSCAT melt areas experiencing 2 weeks or more of melting time.