Combining SAR and DISP imagery to investigate the structural and glaciological setting of the Transantarctic Mountains

The authors present a comparison between regional scale satellite imagery of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM), Antarctica. Their reference data set is the 1997 RADARSAT SAR mosaic. The 25 m pixel, 5.3 GHz SAR data were geocoded and terrain corrected using ground control points and a high-resolution digital elevation model. The 1963 declassified intelligence satellite photographs (DISP) were registered with respect to the SAR mosaic. The authors present a difference map of the DISP and SAR imagery to demonstrate how optical and microwave satellite imagery can be used in combination to enhance information about the structural and glaciological environment of the TAM. The difference map filters out the visual confusion in the SAR imagery caused by backscatter, shadow, and pixel stretching, while retaining the proxy indications of basal topography related to crustal structure. Such information is useful for extrapolating and correlating local and regional lineament trends in order to determine large-scale movements along regional structures and for a better understanding of the kinematic evolution of the TAM