Evaluation of new spaceborne SAR sensors for sea-ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea
Journal article, 2010

In this study, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and the Envisat, RADARSAT-2, and TerraSAR-X satellites were compared to evaluate their usefulness for sea-ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea. Radar signature characteristics at different frequencies, polarizations, and spatial resolutions are presented for three examples from 2009. C-band like-polarization data, which have been used for operational sea-ice mapping since the early 1990s, serve as a reference. Advantages and disadvantages were identified for the different SAR systems and imaging modes. One conclusion is 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.

Gulf of Bothnia

SAR

Sea-ice

Author

Leif Eriksson

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Radar Remote Sensing

Karin Borenäs

SMHI

W. Dierking

Helmholtz

Anders Berg

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Radar Remote Sensing

M. Santoro

Gamma Remote Sensing AG

Per Pemberton

SMHI

Henrik Lindh

SMHI

Bengt Karlson

SMHI

Canadian journal of remote sensing

0703-8992 (ISSN) 17127971 (eISSN)

Vol. 36 1 S56-S73

Subject Categories

Aerospace Engineering

Agricultural Science

Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources

DOI

10.5589/m10-020

More information

Latest update

9/15/2020