https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-199 Preprint. Discussion started: 10 September 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. Seasonal timeline for snow-covered sea ice processes in Nunavik’s Deception Bay from TerraSAR-X and time-lapse photography Sophie Dufour-Beauséjour1,2, Anna Wendleder3, Yves Gauthier1,2, Monique Bernier1,2, Jimmy Poulin1,2, 5 Véronique Gilbert4, Juupi Tuniq5, Amélie Rouleau6, Achim Roth3 1Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Quebec, G1K 9A9, Canada 2Centre d’études nordiques (CEN), Université Laval, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada 3German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Weßling, Germany 10 4Kativik Regional Government, Kuujjuaq, J0M 1C0, Canada 5Salluit, J0M 1S0, Canada 6Raglan Mine (a Glencore Company), Laval, H7S 1Z5, Canada Correspondence to: Sophie Dufour-Beauséjour (
[email protected]) Abstract. Inuit have reported greater inter-annual variability in seasonal sea ice conditions. For Deception Bay (Nunavik), an area 15 prized for seal and caribou hunting, an increase in solid precipitation and a shorter snow cover period is expected in the near future. In this context, and considering ice-breaking transport in the fjord by mining companies, we monitored sea ice in the area for three seasons of ice between 2015 and 2018. This article presents a case study for the combined use of TerraSAR-X and time-lapse photography time-series in order to monitor snow-covered sea ice seasonal processes. The X-band median backscattering is shown to reproduce the seasonal evolution expected from C-band data. Two different freeze-up and breakup processes are characterized.