Evaluation of multi-polarization SAR data at L-, C- and X-band for sea-ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea

Other conference contribution, 2010

SAR data from the satellites ALOS, Envisat, Radarsat-2 and TerraSAR-X were compared in order to evaluate their usefulness for sea ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea. Different advantages and disadvantages were identified for the SAR systems and imaging modes. It has been shown that cross-polarized data improve the discrimination between sea-ice and open water. Another observation is that it is easier to identify ice ridges in L-band data than in images from shorter wavelengths. The information content of X- and C-band images is largely equivalent, whereas L-band data provide complementary information. L-band SAR also seems to be less sensitive to wet snow cover on the ice.