Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data

The knowledge of glacier zones’ extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the percolation zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integra...

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Main Authors: Parrella, Giuseppe, Hajnsek, Irena, Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/515496
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000515496
id ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/515496
record_format openpolar
spelling ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/515496 2023-05-15T16:21:25+02:00 Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data Parrella, Giuseppe Hajnsek, Irena Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P. 2021-11 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/515496 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000515496 en eng MDPI info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3390/rs13214448 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000720453600001 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/515496 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000515496 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International CC-BY Remote Sensing, 13 (21) Synthetic Aperture Radar polarimetry differential propagation firn anisotropy Greenland info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2021 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/515496 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000515496 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214448 2022-04-25T14:37:03Z The knowledge of glacier zones’ extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the percolation zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integrated mass balance changes. Several approaches have been developed in the last decades to map the FL by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, mainly exploiting backscatter intensities and their seasonal variation. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed, based on co-polarisation phase differences (CPDs). In particular, CPDs are interpreted as the result of propagation through anisotropic firn layers and are, therefore, proposed as an indicator of the presence of firn. A model is employed to demonstrate the link between CPDs and firn depth, indicating the potential of polarimetric SAR to improve firn characterization beyond spatial extent and FL detection. The proposed approach is demonstrated on L-band airborne data, acquired on 21 May 2015 by the F-SAR sensor of DLR in West Greenland during the ARCTIC15 campaign, and validated with in-situ information available from other studies. ISSN:2072-4292 Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland ETH Zürich Research Collection Greenland
institution Open Polar
collection ETH Zürich Research Collection
op_collection_id ftethz
language English
topic Synthetic Aperture Radar
polarimetry
differential propagation
firn anisotropy
Greenland
spellingShingle Synthetic Aperture Radar
polarimetry
differential propagation
firn anisotropy
Greenland
Parrella, Giuseppe
Hajnsek, Irena
Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P.
Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
topic_facet Synthetic Aperture Radar
polarimetry
differential propagation
firn anisotropy
Greenland
description The knowledge of glacier zones’ extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the percolation zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integrated mass balance changes. Several approaches have been developed in the last decades to map the FL by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, mainly exploiting backscatter intensities and their seasonal variation. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed, based on co-polarisation phase differences (CPDs). In particular, CPDs are interpreted as the result of propagation through anisotropic firn layers and are, therefore, proposed as an indicator of the presence of firn. A model is employed to demonstrate the link between CPDs and firn depth, indicating the potential of polarimetric SAR to improve firn characterization beyond spatial extent and FL detection. The proposed approach is demonstrated on L-band airborne data, acquired on 21 May 2015 by the F-SAR sensor of DLR in West Greenland during the ARCTIC15 campaign, and validated with in-situ information available from other studies. ISSN:2072-4292
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Parrella, Giuseppe
Hajnsek, Irena
Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P.
author_facet Parrella, Giuseppe
Hajnsek, Irena
Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P.
author_sort Parrella, Giuseppe
title Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_short Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_full Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_fullStr Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_full_unstemmed Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_sort retrieval of firn thickness by means of polarisation phase differences in l-band sar data
publisher MDPI
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/515496
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000515496
geographic Greenland
geographic_facet Greenland
genre glacier
Greenland
genre_facet glacier
Greenland
op_source Remote Sensing, 13 (21)
op_relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3390/rs13214448
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000720453600001
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/515496
doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000515496
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
op_rightsnorm CC-BY
op_doi https://doi.org/20.500.11850/515496
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000515496
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214448
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