Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone Width from AltiKa Satellite, 2013-2023

A decade of Antarctic marginal ice zone width data from the SARAL/AltiKa satellite, supporting the Fraser et al., 2026 publication in Nature Communications. The data are presented as one CSV file per year, each containing approximately 8500-9000 rows summarizing half-orbit tracks from pole to pole. It is provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in July 2026.

Use Cases

• Estimating wave-affected marginal ice zone width based on the difference between ice edge and inner MIZ limit latitude.
• Analyzing decadal trends in Antarctic sea ice extent and variability based on annual CSV files.
• Validating wave-in-ice models using the inner MIZ limit derived from AltiKa Ka-band radar altimeter waveforms.
• Studying the relationship between satellite altimeter waveform shape and wave passage detectability in sea ice.

Strengths

• Approximately 8500-9000 data rows per annual file, providing detailed along-track summaries.
• Data underpins a peer-reviewed publication in Nature Communications (Fraser et al., 2026), indicating scientific rigor.
• Covers a decade of observations, allowing for climatological analysis of the Antarctic marginal ice zone.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown for the full collection, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the SARAL/AltiKa satellite's coverage.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, data_gov_au platform.

Collection Method

Derived from SARAL/AltiKa Ka-band radar altimeter waveforms; the inner MIZ limit is estimated where the waveform becomes sufficiently peaky and steep.

Time Range

Likely covers the operational period of the SARAL/AltiKa satellite (launched 2013), suggesting a decade-long range up to 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-22 01:04:53.170410; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Antarctic marginal ice zone.