Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska
Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:6de31980d7944bb4820d1fa7c11158e2 2023-05-15T14:58:46+02:00 Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska M. Engram K. W. Anthony F. J. Meyer G. Grosse 2013-11-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1741/2013/tc-7-1741-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6de31980d7944bb4820d1fa7c11158e2 en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1741/2013/tc-7-1741-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6de31980d7944bb4820d1fa7c11158e2 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 6, Pp 1741-1752 (2013) geo info Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2013 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 2023-01-22T17:53:03Z Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-band (5.6 cm) SAR to classify lake ice with no further attention to L-band SAR for this purpose. Here, we examined calibrated L-band single- and quadrature-polarized SAR returns from floating and grounded lake ice in two regions of Alaska: the northern Seward Peninsula (NSP) where methane ebullition is common in lakes and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) where ebullition is relatively rare. We found average backscatter intensities of −13 dB and −16 dB for late winter floating ice on the NSP and ACP, respectively, and −19 dB for grounded ice in both regions. Polarimetric analysis revealed that the mechanism of L-band SAR backscatter from floating ice is primarily roughness at the ice–water interface. L-band SAR showed less contrast between floating and grounded lake ice than C-band; however, since L-band is sensitive to ebullition bubbles trapped by lake ice (bubbles increase backscatter), this study helps elucidate potential confounding factors of grounded ice in methane studies using SAR. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Seward Peninsula The Cryosphere Thermokarst Alaska Unknown Arctic The Cryosphere 7 6 1741 1752 |
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geo info M. Engram K. W. Anthony F. J. Meyer G. Grosse Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
topic_facet |
geo info |
description |
Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-band (5.6 cm) SAR to classify lake ice with no further attention to L-band SAR for this purpose. Here, we examined calibrated L-band single- and quadrature-polarized SAR returns from floating and grounded lake ice in two regions of Alaska: the northern Seward Peninsula (NSP) where methane ebullition is common in lakes and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) where ebullition is relatively rare. We found average backscatter intensities of −13 dB and −16 dB for late winter floating ice on the NSP and ACP, respectively, and −19 dB for grounded ice in both regions. Polarimetric analysis revealed that the mechanism of L-band SAR backscatter from floating ice is primarily roughness at the ice–water interface. L-band SAR showed less contrast between floating and grounded lake ice than C-band; however, since L-band is sensitive to ebullition bubbles trapped by lake ice (bubbles increase backscatter), this study helps elucidate potential confounding factors of grounded ice in methane studies using SAR. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Engram K. W. Anthony F. J. Meyer G. Grosse |
author_facet |
M. Engram K. W. Anthony F. J. Meyer G. Grosse |
author_sort |
M. Engram |
title |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_short |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_full |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska |
title_sort |
characterization of l-band synthetic aperture radar (sar) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in arctic alaska |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1741/2013/tc-7-1741-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6de31980d7944bb4820d1fa7c11158e2 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Seward Peninsula The Cryosphere Thermokarst Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Seward Peninsula The Cryosphere Thermokarst Alaska |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 6, Pp 1741-1752 (2013) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/1741/2013/tc-7-1741-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/article/6de31980d7944bb4820d1fa7c11158e2 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1741-2013 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1741 |
op_container_end_page |
1752 |
_version_ |
1766330891369447424 |