Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska
Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc19919 2023-05-15T14:57:51+02:00 Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska Engram, M. Anthony, K. W. Meyer, F. J. Grosse, G. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/7/1741/2013/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/7/1741/2013/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 2020-07-20T16:25:17Z Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-band (5.6 cm) SAR to classify lake ice with no further attention to L-band SAR for this purpose. Here, we examined calibrated L-band single- and quadrature-polarized SAR returns from floating and grounded lake ice in two regions of Alaska: the northern Seward Peninsula (NSP) where methane ebullition is common in lakes and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) where ebullition is relatively rare. We found average backscatter intensities of −13 dB and −16 dB for late winter floating ice on the NSP and ACP, respectively, and −19 dB for grounded ice in both regions. Polarimetric analysis revealed that the mechanism of L-band SAR backscatter from floating ice is primarily roughness at the ice–water interface. L-band SAR showed less contrast between floating and grounded lake ice than C-band; however, since L-band is sensitive to ebullition bubbles trapped by lake ice (bubbles increase backscatter), this study helps elucidate potential confounding factors of grounded ice in methane studies using SAR. Text Arctic Seward Peninsula Thermokarst Alaska Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic The Cryosphere 7 6 1741 1752 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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English |
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Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-band (5.6 cm) SAR to classify lake ice with no further attention to L-band SAR for this purpose. Here, we examined calibrated L-band single- and quadrature-polarized SAR returns from floating and grounded lake ice in two regions of Alaska: the northern Seward Peninsula (NSP) where methane ebullition is common in lakes and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) where ebullition is relatively rare. We found average backscatter intensities of −13 dB and −16 dB for late winter floating ice on the NSP and ACP, respectively, and −19 dB for grounded ice in both regions. Polarimetric analysis revealed that the mechanism of L-band SAR backscatter from floating ice is primarily roughness at the ice–water interface. L-band SAR showed less contrast between floating and grounded lake ice than C-band; however, since L-band is sensitive to ebullition bubbles trapped by lake ice (bubbles increase backscatter), this study helps elucidate potential confounding factors of grounded ice in methane studies using SAR. |
format |
Text |
author |
Engram, M. Anthony, K. W. Meyer, F. J. Grosse, G. |
spellingShingle |
Engram, M. Anthony, K. W. Meyer, F. J. Grosse, G. Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
author_facet |
Engram, M. Anthony, K. W. Meyer, F. J. Grosse, G. |
author_sort |
Engram, M. |
title |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_short |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_full |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_sort |
characterization of l-band synthetic aperture radar (sar) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in arctic alaska |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/7/1741/2013/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Seward Peninsula Thermokarst Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Seward Peninsula Thermokarst Alaska |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/7/1741/2013/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1741 |
op_container_end_page |
1752 |
_version_ |
1766329961162997760 |