SEASAT SAR Sea Ice Imagery from Summer Melt to Fall Freeze-up.

Some salient aspects of SEASAT L-band SAR sea ice imagery are presented. High backscatter attributed to water-saturated surface layers reduces the ability to interpret ice conditions. Slush on water areas produces a strong backscatter which could be misinterpreted as rubble, but sequential imagery a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ketchum,R D , Jr
Other Authors: NAVAL OCEAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY NSTL STATION MS
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1982
Subjects:
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
Active & Passive Radar Detection & Equipment
*SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR
*SEA ICE
SIZES(DIMENSIONS)
WATER
SHAPE
RADAR IMAGES
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES
RECONNAISSANCE
SPACEBORNE
L BAND
ARCTIC OCEAN
SEASAT A satellite
Satellite reconnaissance
PE61153N
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA122675
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA122675
Description
Summary:Some salient aspects of SEASAT L-band SAR sea ice imagery are presented. High backscatter attributed to water-saturated surface layers reduces the ability to interpret ice conditions. Slush on water areas produces a strong backscatter which could be misinterpreted as rubble, but sequential imagery and floe sizes and shapes can be used to resolve this ambiguity. The slush effect may enhance identification of active zones. Decreasing air temperatures during fall freeze-up reduces background clutter increasing the ability to discern floe sizes and shapes. Higher SAR frequencies being considered for future satellites will show greater backscatter variations for different ice types, but many ambiguities will occur and the ability to discern ridges and floe sizes and shapes will be reduced in the marginal ice zones where interannual weather fluctuations will adversely affect surface scattering properties. (Author)

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