Cryosphere Applications

Abstract Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides large coverage and high resolution, and it has been proven to be sensitive to both surface and near-surface features related to accumulation, ablation, and metamorphism of snow and firn. Exploiting this sensitivity, SAR polarimetry and polarimetric in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hajnsek, I., Parrella, G., Marino, A., Eltoft, T., Necsoiu, M., Eriksson, L., Watanabe, M.
Format: Book Part
Language:unknown
Published: Springer International Publishing 2021
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56504-6_4
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-56504-6_4
Description
Summary:Abstract Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides large coverage and high resolution, and it has been proven to be sensitive to both surface and near-surface features related to accumulation, ablation, and metamorphism of snow and firn. Exploiting this sensitivity, SAR polarimetry and polarimetric interferometry found application to land ice for instance for the estimation of wave extinction (which relates to sub surface ice volume structure) and for the estimation of snow water equivalent (which relates to snow density and depth). After presenting these applications, the Chapter proceeds by reviewing applications of SAR polarimetry to sea ice for the classification of different ice types, the estimation of thickness, and the characterisation of its surface. Finally, an application to the characterisation of permafrost regions is considered. For each application, the used (model-based) decomposition and polarimetric parameters are critically described, and real data results from relevant airborne campaigns and space borne acquisitions are reported.