Theory of Radar Polarimetric Interferometry and Its Application to the Retrieval of Sea Ice Elevation in the Western Weddell Sea, Antarctic ...

• Main Authors: Nghiem, Son V., Huang, Lanqing, Hajnsek, Irena
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2022
• Subjects: Sea ice elevation; radar polarimetric interferometry; Maxwell's equations; analytic method; Weddell Sea; Antarctic; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000546697; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/585819

Sea ice elevation plays a crucial role in sea ice dynamic processes driven by winds and waves, for which satellite radar remote sensing becomes indispensable to monitor snow-covered sea ice across the vast polar regions regardless of darkness and clouds. To measure sea ice elevation, a theory of polarimetric interferometry for both monostatic and bistatic radars is developed based on analytic solutions of Maxwell's equations, accounting for realistic and complicated properties of snow, sea ice, and seawater. This analytic method inherently preserves phase information that is imperative for radar polarimetry and interferometry. Among a multitude of complex radar coefficients in the general polarimetric interferometric covariance matrix, the symmetry group theory is utilized to identify and select appropriate terms pertaining to the retrieval of sea ice elevation while avoiding radar parameters that may inadvertently introduce non-uniqueness and excessive uncertainty. Theoretical calculations compare well with ... : Earth and Space Science, 9 (5) ...