Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies
To improve our understanding of how snow properties influence sea ice thickness retrievals from presently operational and upcoming satellite radar altimeter missions, as well as to investigate the potential for combining dual frequencies to simultaneously map snow depth and sea ice thickness, a new,...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/4405/2020/ |
id |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc86133 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc86133 2023-05-15T15:08:05+02:00 Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies Stroeve, Julienne Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Tonboe, Rasmus Hendricks, Stefan Ricker, Robert Mead, James Mallett, Robbie Huntemann, Marcus Itkin, Polona Schneebeli, Martin Krampe, Daniela Spreen, Gunnar Wilkinson, Jeremy Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario Tsamados, Michel 2020-12-04 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/4405/2020/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/4405/2020/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2020 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 2020-12-07T17:22:16Z To improve our understanding of how snow properties influence sea ice thickness retrievals from presently operational and upcoming satellite radar altimeter missions, as well as to investigate the potential for combining dual frequencies to simultaneously map snow depth and sea ice thickness, a new, surface-based, fully polarimetric Ku- and Ka-band radar (KuKa radar) was built and deployed during the 2019–2020 year-long MOSAiC international Arctic drift expedition. This instrument, built to operate both as an altimeter (stare mode) and as a scatterometer (scan mode), provided the first in situ Ku- and Ka-band dual-frequency radar observations from autumn freeze-up through midwinter and covering newly formed ice in leads and first-year and second-year ice floes. Data gathered in the altimeter mode will be used to investigate the potential for estimating snow depth as the difference between dominant radar scattering horizons in the Ka- and Ku-band data. In the scatterometer mode, the Ku- and Ka-band radars operated under a wide range of azimuth and incidence angles, continuously assessing changes in the polarimetric radar backscatter and derived polarimetric parameters, as snow properties varied under varying atmospheric conditions. These observations allow for characterizing radar backscatter responses to changes in atmospheric and surface geophysical conditions. In this paper, we describe the KuKa radar, illustrate examples of its data and demonstrate their potential for these investigations. Text Arctic Sea ice Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Midwinter ENVELOPE(139.931,139.931,-66.690,-66.690) The Cryosphere 14 12 4405 4426 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
To improve our understanding of how snow properties influence sea ice thickness retrievals from presently operational and upcoming satellite radar altimeter missions, as well as to investigate the potential for combining dual frequencies to simultaneously map snow depth and sea ice thickness, a new, surface-based, fully polarimetric Ku- and Ka-band radar (KuKa radar) was built and deployed during the 2019–2020 year-long MOSAiC international Arctic drift expedition. This instrument, built to operate both as an altimeter (stare mode) and as a scatterometer (scan mode), provided the first in situ Ku- and Ka-band dual-frequency radar observations from autumn freeze-up through midwinter and covering newly formed ice in leads and first-year and second-year ice floes. Data gathered in the altimeter mode will be used to investigate the potential for estimating snow depth as the difference between dominant radar scattering horizons in the Ka- and Ku-band data. In the scatterometer mode, the Ku- and Ka-band radars operated under a wide range of azimuth and incidence angles, continuously assessing changes in the polarimetric radar backscatter and derived polarimetric parameters, as snow properties varied under varying atmospheric conditions. These observations allow for characterizing radar backscatter responses to changes in atmospheric and surface geophysical conditions. In this paper, we describe the KuKa radar, illustrate examples of its data and demonstrate their potential for these investigations. |
format |
Text |
author |
Stroeve, Julienne Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Tonboe, Rasmus Hendricks, Stefan Ricker, Robert Mead, James Mallett, Robbie Huntemann, Marcus Itkin, Polona Schneebeli, Martin Krampe, Daniela Spreen, Gunnar Wilkinson, Jeremy Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario Tsamados, Michel |
spellingShingle |
Stroeve, Julienne Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Tonboe, Rasmus Hendricks, Stefan Ricker, Robert Mead, James Mallett, Robbie Huntemann, Marcus Itkin, Polona Schneebeli, Martin Krampe, Daniela Spreen, Gunnar Wilkinson, Jeremy Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario Tsamados, Michel Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
author_facet |
Stroeve, Julienne Nandan, Vishnu Willatt, Rosemary Tonboe, Rasmus Hendricks, Stefan Ricker, Robert Mead, James Mallett, Robbie Huntemann, Marcus Itkin, Polona Schneebeli, Martin Krampe, Daniela Spreen, Gunnar Wilkinson, Jeremy Matero, Ilkka Hoppmann, Mario Tsamados, Michel |
author_sort |
Stroeve, Julienne |
title |
Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
title_short |
Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
title_full |
Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
title_fullStr |
Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface-based Ku- and Ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
title_sort |
surface-based ku- and ka-band polarimetric radar for sea ice studies |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/4405/2020/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(139.931,139.931,-66.690,-66.690) |
geographic |
Arctic Midwinter |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Midwinter |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/14/4405/2020/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4405-2020 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
4405 |
op_container_end_page |
4426 |
_version_ |
1766339507495370752 |