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We assess different methods and input parameters, namely snow depth, snow density and ice density, used in freeboard-to-thickness conversion of Arctic sea ice. This conversion is an important part of sea ice thickness retrieval from spaceborne altimetry. A data base is created comprising sea ice freeboard derived from satellite radar altimetry between 1993 and 2012 and co-locate observations of total (sea ice + snow) and sea ice freeboard from the Operation Ice Bridge (OIB) and CryoSat Validation Experiment (CryoVEx) airborne campaigns, of sea ice draft from moored and submarine upward looking sonar (ULS), and of snow depth from OIB campaigns, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and the Warren climatology (Warren et al., 1999). We compare the different data sets in spatiotemporal scales where satellite radar altimetry yields meaningful results. An inter-comparison of the snow depth data sets emphasizes the limited usefulness of Warren climatology snow depth for freeboard-to-thickness conversion under current Arctic Ocean conditions reported in other studies. We test different freeboard-to-thickness and freeboard-to-draft conversion approaches. The mean observed ULS sea ice draft agrees with the mean sea ice draft derived from radar altimetry within the uncertainty bounds of the data sets involved. However, none of the approaches are able to reproduce the seasonal cycle in sea ice draft observed by moored ULS. A sensitivity analysis of the freeboard-to-thickness conversion suggests that sea ice density is as important as snow depth.

Existing solar radiative codes such as LOWTRAN allow us to model the radiative properties of the atmosphere and its constituents for standard atmospheric conditions. The increase in urbanization and air pollution has led to changes in the distribution, type, and concentration of the atmospheric constituents, affecting spectral atmospheric transmission and modifying weather and climate. This requires knowledge of the real optical properties of atmospheric transmission. We have developed a model for the radiative properties of atmospheric transmission, with ground-based multispectral measurements of direct solar radiation in the 310-830-nm range. An application of this model to Athens' urban atmosphere is described. The radiative properties of a U.S. Standard Atmosphere are also simulated by use of the LOWTRAN 7 code; simulations and calculations are compared. The total ozone retrieval scheme and the algorithm for retrieving the spectral transmission function and optical thickness, considering multiple scattering, are given. Results for the spectral atmospheric transmission and aerosol and gas transmission functions as well as optical-thickness measurements for the Athens area are also presented as an application of the proposed methodology.

In a companion paper we describe a radiative transfer model and a consequent algorithm for retrieving atmospheric variables from ground-based multispectral measurements of direct solar irradiance. The accuracy of retrieved data depends on measured spectral irradiance as well as surface meteorological variables. Here we analyze the impact of the surface albedo on diffuse scattered solar irradiance in the Sun-sensor direction. We also investigate the impact of visibility on the retrieved spectral transmission function and optical thickness. We discuss the application of a spectrometric system, the passive pyrheliometric scanner (PPS), for the estimation of atmospheric turbidity and visibility. The spectral transmission of the atmosphere derived with the PPS for the Athens atmosphere and for different zenith angles is given. We present results of retrieved aerosol optical properties using as atmospheric turbidity those values estimated from the ground-based measurements of direct solar radiation with the aid of the PPS. It is shown that another application of the PPS may be the estimation of horizontal visibility.