Multi-band SAR intercomparison study in the Antarctic Peninsula for sea ice and iceberg detection

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems are one of the best resources to gather information in polar environments, but the detection and monitoring of sea ice types and icebergs using them is still a challenge. Limitations using single-frequency images in sea ice characterization are well known, and...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Marine Science
Main Authors: Salvó, Constanza S., Gomez Saez, Ludmila, Arce, Julieta C.
Other Authors: World Meteorological Organization
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Frontiers Media SA 2023
Subjects:
Ocean Engineering
Water Science and Technology
Aquatic Science
Global and Planetary Change
Oceanography
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Argentine
Marambio
Erebus
Antarctic Sound
Antarc*
Iceberg*
Sea ice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1255425
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1255425/full
Description
Summary:Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems are one of the best resources to gather information in polar environments, but the detection and monitoring of sea ice types and icebergs using them is still a challenge. Limitations using single-frequency images in sea ice characterization are well known, and using different SAR bands has been revealed to be useful. In this paper, we present the quantitative results of an intercomparison experiment conducted by the Argentine Naval Hydrographic Service (SHN) using X-, C-, and L-bands from COSMO-SkyMed, Sentinel-1, and SAOCOM satellites, respectively. The aim of the experiment was to evaluate SAOCOM for its use on SHN products. There were 25 images with different SAR parameters that were analyzed, incorporating the diversity in the information that everyday Ice Services attend to. Particularly, iceberg detections, fast first-year ice, and belts and strips were studied in the Antarctic Sound, the surroundings of Marambio Island, and Erebus and Terror Gulf. The results show that the HV polarization channel of the L-band provides useful information for iceberg detection and fast first-year ice surface feature recognition and is a promising frequency for the study of strip identification under windy sea conditions and snow accumulation on first-year ice.

Similar Items