Experimental and Theoretical Analyses for Microwave Backscattering from Lake Ice in Northern Alaska

• Main Author: Wakabayashi, Hiroyuki
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Hokkaido University
• Subjects: 500; Barrow; ice core; north slope; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/51354; https://doi.org/10.11501/3113528

This paper describes the C- and L-band backscattering variations and the development of a numerical model of backscatter from lake ice growing on shallow tundra lakes in northern Alaskqa. This research was prompted by earlier observations of unusual X-and L-band backscatter variations in side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) data, and the recent availability of a well-calibrated time-series of SAR data and concurrent ground observations and measurements. The North Slope of Alaska is a large expanse of low-lying tundra with many shallow lakes which comprise more than 40% of the surface area. During the 1970s, in late winter, SLAR images of these lakes showed interesting variations in backscatter itensity: areas of low backscatter at lake margins were believed to represent ice that was frozen to the lake bed while areas of high backscatter represented floating ice that contained tubular bubbles which acted as forward scatterers. From September 1991 to April 1993, backscatter intensity variations from shallow tundra lakes near Barrow, NW Alaska, were studied using C- and L-band SAR data from the ESA Remote-Sensing Satellite-1 (ERS-1) and Japanese Earth Resource Satellite-1 (JERS-1). The SAR data were processed at the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) and Earth Observation Center (EOC), and the backscattering coefficient was derived for a number of lakes. Field measurements in April 1992 confirmed that the highest values were associated with floating ice containing tubular bubbles, while the lowest backscatter values were associated with ice frozen to the lake bed. The ice frozen to the bottom of the lakes also contained tubular bubbles. Ice core measurements indicated that the lake ice comprised three layers: 1) a surface layer of granular ice with roughly spherical bubbles with radii smaller than a wavelength; 2) a layer of clear bubble-free ice, and; 3) a bottom layer containing tubular bubbles resembling thin cylinders with lengths ranging from 15 mm and 91 mm and a radius much smaller than a wavelength. The number of ...