• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.343-353
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• 2018

Ocean tides in Antarctica are not well constrained mostly due to the lack of tidal observations. Especially, tides underneath and around ice shelves are uncertain. InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) data has been used to observe ice shelf movements primarily caused by ocean tides. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to estimate tidal constituents underneath the Sulzberger ice shelf, West Antarctica, solely using ERS-1/2 tandem mission DInSAR (differential InSAR) observations. In addition, the tidal constituents can be estimated in a high-resolution (~200 m) grid which is beyond any tidal model resolution. We assume that InSAR observed ocean tidal heights can be derived after correcting the InSAR data for the effect of atmospheric loading using the inverse barometric effect, solid earth tides, and ocean tide loading. The ERS (European Remote Sensing) tandem orbit configuration of a 1-day separation between SAR data takes diminishes the sensitivity to major tidal constituents including $K_1$ and $S_2$. Here, the dominant tidal constituent $O_1$ is estimated using 8 differential interferograms underneath the Sulzberger ice shelf. The resulting tidal constituent is compared with a contemporary regional tide model (CATS2008a) and a global tide model (TPXO7.1). The InSAR estimated tidal amplitude agrees well with both models with RMS (root-mean-square) differences of < 2.2 cm and the phase estimate corroborating both tide models to within $8^{\circ}$. We conclude that fine spatial scale (~200 m) Antarctic ice shelf ocean tide determination is feasible for dominant constituents using C-band ERS-1/2 tandem mission InSAR.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2018

Grounding line of a glacier or ice shelf where ice bottom meets the ocean is sensitive to changes in the polar environment. Recent rapid changes of grounding lines have been observed especially in southwestern Antarctica due to global warming. In this study, ERS-1/2 and Sentinel-1A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image were interferometrically acquired in 1996 and 2015, respectively, to monitor the movement of the grounding line in the western part of Ronne Ice Shelf near the Antarctic peninsula. Double-Differential Interferometric SAR (DDInSAR) technique was applied to remove gravitational flow signal to detect grounding line from the interferometric phase due to the vertical displacement of the tide. The result showed that ERS-1/2 grounding lines are almost consistent with those from Rignot et al. (2011) which used the similar dataset, confirming the credibility of the data processing. The comparison of ERS-1/2 and Sentinle-1A DDInSAR images showed a grounding line retreat of $1.0{\pm}0.1km$ from 1996 to 2015. It is also proved that the grounding lines based on the 2004 MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) images and digital elevation model searching for ice plain near coastal area (Scambos et al., 2017), is not accurate enough especially where there is a ice plain with no tidal motion.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.269-285
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• 2022

The interaction between ocean and ice shelf is a critical physical process in relation to water mass transformations and ice shelf melting/freezing at the ocean-ice interface. However, it remains challenging to thoroughly understand the process due to a lack of observational data with respect to ice shelf cavities. This is the first study to simulate the variability and circulation of water mass both overlying the continental shelf and underneath an ice shelf and an ice tongue in the Terra Nova Bay (TNB), East Antarctica. To explore the properties of water mass and circulation patterns in the TNB and the corresponding effects on sub ice shelf basal melting, we explicitly incorporate the dynamic-thermodynamic processes acting on the ice shelf in the Regional Ocean Modeling System. The simulated water mass formation and circulation in the TNB region agree well with previous studies. The model results show that the TNB circulation is dominated by the geostrophic currents driven by lateral density gradients induced by the releasing of brine or freshwater at the polynya of the TNB. Meanwhile, the circulation dynamics in the cavity under the Nansen Ice shelf (NIS) are different from those in the TNB. The gravity-driven bottom current induced by High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) formed at the TNB polynya flows towards the grounding line, and the buoyance-driven flow associated with glacial meltwater generated by the HSSW emerges from the cavity along the ice base. Both current systems compose the thermohaline overturning circulation in the NIS cavity. This study estimates the NIS basal melting rate to be 0.98 m/a, which is comparable to the previously observed melt rate. However, the melting rate shows a significant variation in space and time.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.535-542
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• 2011

We extracted a surface displacement map of Canisteo Peninsula and the surrounding area in West Antarctica by applying 4-pass DInSAR technique to two ERS-1/2 tandem pairs and analyzed the surface displacement of glaciers and sea ice. In the displacement map, glaciers showed fast motion pushing the adjoining land-fast sea ice which has the displacement in the same direction as the glacier. Cosgrove ice shelf showed large displacement pushing the adjoining land-fast sea ice as well. Some sea ice indicated the displacement that is opposite to the land-fast sea ice. This was because the type of the sea ice is drift ice that is affected by ocean current. Therefore, we could confirmed the boundary between land-fast sea ice and drift ice. It was difficult to distinguish ice shelf from ice sheet because they showed similarities both in brightness of the SAR images and in fringe rates of the interferograms. However, a boundary between fast-moving ice shelf and stable ice sheet was easily confirmed in the displacement map after the phase unwrapping process.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.145-148
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• 2008

ICESat launched in Jan. 2003 has a capability to monitor polar regions with its inclination of 94 degree. ICESat carries GLAS (Geosciences Laser Altimetry System) to measure Earth's topography in unprecedented accuracy, and thus it can be applied for glacier variation due to recent climate changes. Here we present a new method to estimate velocity structure of Amery Ice-Shelf using ICESat altimtery data. ICESat data shows horizontal displacement of Amery Ice-Shelf, which can be directly used for velocity estimation. This method is expected to extend to other ice-shelves in Antarctica.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_2
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• pp.1165-1178
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• 2018

Collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf and its flow velocity changes has the potential to reduce the restraining stress to the seaward flow of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which can cause sea level rising. In this study, variations in ice velocity from 2000 to 2017 for the Nansen Ice Shelf in East Antarctica that experienced a large-scale collapse in April 2016 were analyzed using Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images. To extract ice velocity, image matching based on orientation correlation was applied to the image pairs of blue, green, red, near-infrared, panchromatic, and the first principal component image of the Landsat multispectral data, from which the results were combined. The Landsat multispectral image matching produced reliable ice velocities for at least 14% wider area on the Nansen Ice Shelf than for the case of using single band (i.e., panchromatic) image matching. The ice velocities derived from the Landsat multispectral image matching have the error of $2.1m\;a^{-1}$ compared to the in situ Global Positioning System (GPS) observation data. The region adjacent to the Drygalski Ice Tongue showed the fastest increase in ice velocity between 2000 and 2017. The ice velocity along the central flow line of the Nansen Ice Shelf was stable before 2010 (${\sim}228m\;a^{-1}$). In 2011-2012, when a rift began to develop near the ice front, the ice flow was accelerated (${\sim}255m\;a^{-1}$) but the velocity was only about 11% faster than 2010. Since 2014, the massive rift had been fully developed, and the ice velocity of the upper region of the rift slightly decreased (${\sim}225m\;a^{-1}$) and stabilized. This means that the development of the rift and the resulting collapse of the ice front had little effect on the ice velocity of the Nansen Ice Shelf.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2005

We construct improved geocentric digital elevation model (DEM), estimate tidal dynamics and ice stream velocity over Sulzberger Ice Shelf, West Antarctica employing differential interferograms from 12 ERS tandem mission Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images acquired in austral fall of 1996. Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimetry profiles acquired in the same season as the SAR scenes in 2004 are used as ground control points (GCPs) for Interferometric SAR (InSAR) DEM generation. 20 additional ICESat profiles acquired in 2003-2004 are then used to assess the accuracy of the DEM. The vertical accuracy of the OEM is estimated by comparing elevations with laser altimetry data from ICESat. The mean height difference between all ICESat data and DEM is -0.57m with a standard deviation of 5.88m. We demonstrate that ICESat elevations can be successfully used as GCPs to improve the accuracy of an InSAR derived DEM. In addition, the magnitude and the direction of tidal changes estimated from interferogram are compared with those predicted tidal differences from four ocean tide models. Tidal deformation measured in InSAR is -16.7cm and it agrees well within 3cm with predicted ones from tide models. Lastly, ice surface velocity is estimated by combining speckle matching technique and InSAR line-of-sight measurement. This study shows that the maximum speed and mean speed are 509 m/yr and 131 m/yr, respectively. Our results can be useful for the mass balance study in this area and sea level change.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.35 no.6_1
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• pp.933-944
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• 2019

This study analyzes the tide deformation of land boundary regions on the east (Region A) and west (Region B) sides of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica using Double-Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DDInSAR). A total of seven Sentinel-1A SAR images acquired in 2015-2016 were used to estimate the accuracy of tide prediction model and Young's modulus of ice shelf. First, we compared the Ross Sea Height-based Tidal Inverse (Ross_Inv) model, which is a representative tide prediction model for the Antarctic Ross Sea, with the tide deformation of the ice shelf extracted from the DDInSAR image. The accuracy was analyzed as 3.86 cm in the east region of Ross Ice Shelf and it was confirmed that the inverse barometric pressure effect must be corrected in the tide model. However, in the east, it is confirmed that the tide model may be inaccurate because a large error occurs even after correction of the atmospheric effect. In addition, the Young's modulus of the ice was calculated on the basis of the one-dimensional elastic beam model showing the correlation between the width of the hinge zone where the tide strain occurs and the ice thickness. For this purpose, the grounding line is defined as the line where the displacement caused by the tide appears in the DDInSAR image, and the hinge line is defined as the line to have the local maximum/minimum deformation, and the hinge zone as the area between the two lines. According to the one-dimensional elastic beam model assuming a semi-infinite plane, the width of the hinge region is directly proportional to the 0.75 power of the ice thickness. The width of the hinge zone was measured in the area where the ground line and the hinge line were close to the straight line shown in DDInSAR. The linear regression analysis with the 0.75 power of BEDMAP2 ice thickness estimated the Young's modulus of 1.77±0.73 GPa in the east and west of the Ross Ice Shelf. In this way, more accurate Young's modulus can be estimated by accumulating Sentinel-1 images in the future.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.69-82
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• 2022

The Ross Sea, Antarctica plays an important role in the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) which is the densest water mass in global thermohaline circulation. Of the AABW, 25% is formed in the Ross Sea, and sea ice formation at the polynya (ice-free area) developed in front of ice shelves of the Ross Sea is considered as a pivotal mechanism for AABW production. For this reason, monitoring the Ross Sea variations is very important to understand changes of global thermohaline circulation influenced by climate change. In addition, the Ross Sea is also regarded as a natural laboratory in investigating ice-ocean interactions owing to the development of the polynya. In this article, I introduce characteristics of the Ross Sea described in previous observational studies, and investigate variations that have occurred in the Ross Sea in the past and those taking place in the present. Furthermore, based on these observational results, I outline variations or changes that can be anticipated in the Ross Sea in the future, and make an appeal to researchers regarding the importance and necessity of continuous observations in the Ross Sea.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.144-149
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• 2012

Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) has successfully installed two autonomous very broadband three-component seismic stations at the King George Island (KGI), Antarctica, during the 24th KOPRI Antarctic Summer Expedition (2010 ~ 2011). The seismic observation system is originally designed by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Program for Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere Instrument Center, which is fully compatible with the Polar Earth Observing Network seismic system. The installation is to achieve the following major goals: 1. Monitoring local earthquakes and icequakes in and around the KGI, 2. Validating the robustness of seismic system operation under harsh environment. For further intensive studies, we plan to move and install them adding a couple more stations at ice shelf system, e.g., Larsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica, in 2013 to figure out ice dynamics and physical interaction between lithosphere and cryosphere. In this article, we evaluate seismic station performance and characteristics by examining ambient noise, and provide operational system information such as frequency response and State-Of-Health information.