DETECTION AND MONITORING OF STRATIGRAPHIC MARKERS AND TEMPERATURE TRENDS AT THE GREENLAND ICE-SHEET PROJECT-2 USING PASSIVE-MICROWAVE REMOTE-SENSING DATA

Satellite passive-microwave sensors provide a sensitive means of study ing ice-sheet surface processes that assists ice-core interpretation a nd can extend local observations across regional scales. Analysis of s pecial sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) brightness temperature (T-B) da ta supports ice-core research in two specific ways. First, the summer hear complex layers used to date the Holocene portion of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core can be defined temporally and spatially by SSM/I 37-GHz vertically (V) and horizontally (H) polarized (B) rati o (V/H) trends. Second, comparison of automatic weather station temper atures to SSM/I 37-GHz V T-B data shows that they are an effective pro xy temperature record in this region. Also, the T-B data can be correl ated with proxy temperature trends from stable-isotope-ratio (delta(18 )O and delta D) profiles from snow pits and this allows the assignment of dates to specific snow depths.