Measuring Sea Ice Deformation with Imaging RADAR Satellites

Sea ice pack motion can be detected by comparing pairs of geolocated remote sensing images separated in time by a few days. Pattern recognition algorithms have been applied to develop automatic systems for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images such as SEASAT and ERS-1. These systems produce a vector...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Olmsted, Coert
Other Authors: ALASKA UNIV FAIRBANKS GEOPHYSICAL INST
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1992
Subjects:
Meteorology
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
Cartography and Aerial Photography
*ICE MECHANICS
*RADAR IMAGES
APERTURES
AUTOMATIC
CLASSIFICATION
DEFORMATION
DISCONTINUITIES
DISPLACEMENT
DISTRIBUTION
IMAGES
OCEANS
PACK ICE
PATTERN RECOGNITION
PATTERNS
RECOGNITION
REGIONS
SEA ICE
VELOCITY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
*Global climate change
Component Reports
*Remote sensing
SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar)
Fairbanks
Ice
ice pack
permafrost
Sea ice
Alaska
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP007279
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP007279
Description
Summary:Sea ice pack motion can be detected by comparing pairs of geolocated remote sensing images separated in time by a few days. Pattern recognition algorithms have been applied to develop automatic systems for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images such as SEASAT and ERS-1. These systems produce a vector field of pack ice displacements. To apply this velocity data to basic problems concerning the distribution of ice types and thicknesses, it is necessary to obtain an accurate measure of the deformation due to opening and closing of leads and to rafting and ridging of floes with each other and with thin new ice. Preliminary studies indicate that the ice motion is piecewise continuous with shear zones separating more rigid continuum elements made up of many floes. We postulate a turbulent regime for the velocity field which leads to the assumption of simple rotational motion for the continuum elements. Applying image analysis techniques to the displacement vectors enables classification and parameterization of the continuum elements and the characteristic discontinuities which border them. Computations based on this analysis can then quantify the deformation internal to the continuum elements and that due to the relative motion between them. This article is from 'Proceedings of the International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change Held in Fairbanks, Alaska on 11-15 June 1990. Volume 1', AD-A253 027, p141-146.

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