Development of a radar backscatter model for sea ice for operational applications

Trevor Macklin; Clare J. Oddy; Peter Wadhams; Jane C. Penny; Chris Brownsword

doi:10.1117/12.452765

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14 January 2002 Development of a radar backscatter model for sea ice for operational applications

Trevor Macklin, Clare J. Oddy, Peter Wadhams, Jane C. Penny, Chris Brownsword

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Proceedings Volume 4544, Remote Sensing of the Ocean and Sea Ice 2001; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.452765
Event: International Symposium on Remote Sensing, 2001, Toulouse, France

Abstract

Spaceborne SAR provides key information on the nature, distribution and evolution of sea ice, to assist operational applications in polar waters. Concurrent in situ dat are not generally available in such cases. Here, we discuss the development of a radar backscatter model which can assist the interpretation of SAR data under such circumstances. We define the model parameters from the results of measurement campaigns in different seasons over the region of interest. However, some key parameters require the use of investigations at other sites, laboratory studies and previous investigations with radar data. Here we discus the model development for sea ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. We use second-order radiative transfer theory, incorporating both volume and surface scattering. A surface snow layer is included, and seasonal dependancies are studied. We consider the predicted behavior for first-year and multi-year ice. We assess ERS and RADARSAT SAR images and ERS scatterometer data. Polarimetric SAR observations from the Shuttle Imaging Radar SIR-C illustrate the potential benefits of dual polarized observations from Envisat for the discrimination of ice types. The possible value of active-microwave observations at Ku band and passive-microwave observations from the SSM/I is also discussed.

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Trevor Macklin, Clare J. Oddy, Peter Wadhams, Jane C. Penny, and Chris Brownsword "Development of a radar backscatter model for sea ice for operational applications", Proc. SPIE 4544, Remote Sensing of the Ocean and Sea Ice 2001, (14 January 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.452765

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