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Variations in Arctic sea ice thickness and volume affect regional heat and freshwater budgets and patterns of atmospheric circulation at lower latitudes. Estimates of Arctic sea ice thickness and volume can be obtained from observation and model outputs, but so far, an in-depth comparison of these outputs has not occurred. Such a comparison is crucial for the validation of models that form the basis of future Arctic and global climate projections. In order for an in-depth comparison to be successful, expert knowledge is required of numerous model configurations, as well as the observation methods used to estimate sea ice thickness. This presentation will aim to encourage collaboration between modellers and observers by summarising the method used to calculate sea ice thickness from CryoSat-2 radar altimeter satellite observations, and the difficulties and limitations associated with obtaining these.
It is also our hope that the availability of Arctic-wide sea ice thickness data, especially in near real time (NRT), will enable evaluation and improved skill in the prediction of sea ice thickness distributions by climate models. Although it is possible to calculate Arctic sea ice thickness using measurements acquired by CryoSat-2, the latency of the nominal data set typically exceeds 1-2 months due to the time required to determine precise satellite orbits. The second part of this presentation will introduce our new NRT Arctic sea ice thickness dataset, based on preliminary orbits, which provides Arctic-wide sea ice thickness estimates just three days after acquisition from the satellite and is publicly available. A NRT sea ice thickness estimate is delivered, on average, within 64 km of each location in the Arctic every 14 days.