Remote sensing of drained ice areas around the breathing holes of ice-inhabiting seals

Drainage of surface meltwater into the breathing holes of seals creates characteristic patterns on undeformed, landfast first-year ice in the Arctic during the melt season. The drained ice areas in the vicinity of Mould Bay, Northwest Territories, have been observed on aerial photography, as well as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Zoology
Main Author: Digby, Susan A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1984
Subjects:
Animal Science and Zoology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Arctic
Northwest Territories
Mould Bay
Prince of Wales Strait
Phoca hispida
ringed seal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z84-143
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z84-143
Description
Summary:Drainage of surface meltwater into the breathing holes of seals creates characteristic patterns on undeformed, landfast first-year ice in the Arctic during the melt season. The drained ice areas in the vicinity of Mould Bay, Northwest Territories, have been observed on aerial photography, as well as on imagery from the LANDSAT satellite multispectral scanner, side-looking airborne radar (SLAR), and airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Imagery for the Prince of Wales Strait suggests that the drained areas are also visible on imagery from a space-borne radar. The accuracy of remotely sensed data for detecting seal holes has yet to be determined. Further studies and quantification may lead to use of remotely detected drained ice areas around seal holes as an indicator of the winter resident population of the ringed seal, Phoca hispida.

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