Ice shelves fringing Antarctica are sensitive indicators of climate change due to the direct interface with the atmosphere and ocean. Meltwater induced by atmospheric warming percolates from the surface into hydrofractures and affects shelf stability. Surface melting reduces the microwave backscattering; thus backscatter data is useful in melt monitoring. The Ku-band scatterometer derived melting index (MI) was utilized to assess the decadal (2000–10) variability observed over Antarctic ice shelves. The low intensity melting observed over large ice shelves and high intensity melting observed over the Larsen, Amery, West and Shackleton ice shelves are discussed. A correlation of around 93% was observed between MI variation and rift propagation over Amery Ice Shelf. The El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) correlation with MI was also investigated. The paper highlights that scatterometer derived information has the potential to assess meltwater production and rift propagation.
