Airborne Altimetry Measurements in the Arctic Using a Compact Multi-Band Radar System: Initial Results

• Published in: IGARSS 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium
• Main Authors: Rodríguez-Morales, Fernando, Li, Jilu, Leuschen, Carlton, Hvidegaard, Sine M., Forsberg, René
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2020
• Subjects: Ku-band radar; Ka-band radar; Dualband radar altimetry; UWB radar; /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water; name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water; Arctic; Greenland; East Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/da2a9952-4e26-46a0-852a-09bdbb480e54; https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS39084.2020.9323804

We developed an airborne radar system capable of simultaneous operation at Ku- and Ka- bands. The system is compact and lightweight, and supports coincident altimetry measurements in both bands with ultra-wide bandwidth (up to 6 GHz). Wide-band data can be used to obtain fine vertical resolution or sub-banded to match the operational parameters of orbital instruments. We installed the system onboard a Twin Otter aircraft and collected data over the East Greenland ice sheet margin and on Arctic marine ice during a test field campaign conducted in the summer of 2019. The work was carried as an international collaboration to support the validation of ESA's CryoSat-2 and NASA's ICESat-2 measurements. In this paper, we present an overview of the instrument and its airborne test configuration and field operation; provide initial results from field trials; and outline the potential application of dual-band airborne radar data for the validation of satellite instruments.