The sensitivity of brightness temperature (T(B)) at 6.9, 10.7, and 18.7 GHz from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) observations is investigated over five winter seasons (2002-2007) on Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. The T(B) measurements are compared to ice thicknesses obtained with a previously validated thermodynamic lake ice model. Lake ice thickness is found to explain much of the increase of T(B) at 10.7 and 18.7 GHz. T(B) acquired at 18.7 GHz (V-pol) and 10.7 GHz (H-pol) shows the strongest relation with simulated lake ice thickness over the period of study (R**2 > 0.90). A comparison of the seasonal evolution of T(B) for a cold winter (2003-2004) and a warm winter (2005-2006) reveals that the relationship between T(B) and ice growth is stronger in the cold winter (2003-2004). Overall, this letter shows the high sensitivity of T(B) to ice growth and, thus, the potential of AMSR-E mid-frequency channels to estimate ice thickness on large northern lakes.

Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150

Supplement to: Kang, Kyung-Kuk; Duguay, Claude R; Howell, Stephen E L; Derksen, Chris; Kelly, Richard E J (2010): Sensitivity of AMSR-E brightness temperatures to the seasonal evolution of lake ice thickness. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 7(4), 751-755