Title :
Validation of sea ice signatures in radarsat ScanSAR imagery for the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Author :
Peterson, I.K. ; Prinsenberg, S.J. ; Holladay, J.S. ; Lalumiere, L.A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Fisheries & Oceans, Bedford Inst. of Oceanogr., Dartmouth, NS, Canada
Abstract :
Sea ice thickness and ice surface roughness profiles were collected over many tens of kilometers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada with a helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) system containing a laser altimeter. The profiles are compared with RADARSAT ScanSAR Wide images, and digital video images captured in real-time using a downward-looking video camera mounted on the outside of the helicopter. A survey done in early March, 2001 sampled many different ice conditions, including heavily ridged coastal ice, large rough floes, rafted nilas, and brash ice near the ice edge. Near the north coast of PEI in 2001, there were large quantities of thick ice due to ridging of grey-white or thin first-year ice. However, high SAR backscatter was associated with floes that had a rough surface on scales of a few meters or less.
Keywords :
backscatter; oceanographic regions; oceanographic techniques; radar cross-sections; remote sensing by radar; sea ice; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; AD 2001 03; Canada; Gulf of St. Lawrence; North Atlantic; RADARSAT; Radarsat; SAR; ScanSAR; ScanSAR Wide images; backscatter; brash ice; heavily ridged coastal ice; helicopter-borne electromagnetic system; ice floe; laser; measurement technique; ocean; radar remote sensing; radar scattering; rafted nilas; ridging; rough surface; sea ice; signature; surface roughness; synthetic aperture radar; thickness; validation; Backscatter; Digital cameras; Helicopters; Ice surface; Ice thickness; Laser radar; Rough surfaces; Sea ice; Sea measurements; Surface roughness;
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2002. IGARSS '02. 2002 IEEE International
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7536-X
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.2002.1024969
