Monitoring Fram Strait Sea Ice Outflow and Thin Ice Thickness

• Main Authors: Ronald Kwok, Fram Strait, Ice Flux
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fram Strait; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.531.231; http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/12196/1/01-0124.pdf

We propose to: 1) use sequential SAR maps to monitor the profile of sea ice motion through Fram Strait over the period 2003 through 2005; and, 2) explore the potential of using L-band polarimetric data to determine the thickness of thin ice over the same region. PALSAR with its ScanSAR mode and its 2-day subcycle will be able to monitor the motion profile at a high enough temporal frequency to resolve nearly all temporal and spatial variability. Previous work using airborne L-band polarimetric data have demonstrated the potential of unambiguously identification of areas of open watedthin ice from that of thicker ice. There is also the possibility that one could infer the thickness of thin ice, but his is dependent on the noise level of the polarimetric radar. Here, we propose to evaluate the use of L-band polarimetric observations for the discrimination of open watedthin ice from thicker ice and the retrieval of thin ice thickness.