A study on the c-band polarimetric scattering and physical characteristics of frost flowers on experimental sea ice
A focused study on the C-band polarimetric scattering and physical characteristics of frost-flower-covered sea ice was conducted at the Sea-Ice Environmental Research Facility over a three day period. Sea ice was grown in an outdoor pool outfitted with automated sensors to monitor environmental cond...
| Published in: | IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/bc15f2a5-98b6-482b-bc7a-3d4a03cccc3c https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/bc15f2a5-98b6-482b-bc7a-3d4a03cccc3c https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2013.2255060 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84891557537&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
| Summary: | A focused study on the C-band polarimetric scattering and physical characteristics of frost-flower-covered sea ice was conducted at the Sea-Ice Environmental Research Facility over a three day period. Sea ice was grown in an outdoor pool outfitted with automated sensors to monitor environmental conditions. C-band polarimetric scattering measurements were conducted continuously at a range of incidence angles, and surface roughness statistics were obtained at discrete times using a laser scanner system LiDAR. Four stages of development were identified that exhibited notably different physical and scattering characteristics: 1) initial formation; 2) surface brine expulsion; 3) frost flower growth; and 4) decimation. An optimal polarization and incidence angle is not readily apparent for the purposes of identifying the frost flower development Stages I-III; however, the lower incidence angles (25° and 35° appear to be most sensitive to the surface brine expulsion. Only the dual-polarization measurements at low incidence angles (e.g., 25° could be used to identify the onset of the decimation stage. Backscatter increased rapidly during the initial formation, with a local maximum corresponding to ∼80% areal coverage of frost flowers, followed by a local minimum when the surface was covered by a brine-rich surface layer, connoting that surface brine expulsion may be identified using polarimetric scatterometry. |
|---|