| Title | Satellite SAR observations of river ice cover: a RADARSAT-2 (C-band) and ALOS PALSAR (L-band) comparison |
| |
| Author | van der Sanden, J J ; Drouin, H |
| Source | CGU HS Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment, 16th Workshop on River Ice; 2011 p. 1-19 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2011 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20110200 |
| Meeting | CGU HS Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment; 16th Workshop on River Ice; Winnipeg; CA; September 18-22, 2011 |
| Document | book |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Northwest Territories |
| NTS | 106M/09; 106M/16; 107B/04; 107B/06 |
| Area | Mackenzie River; Point Separation; Oniak Island; Inuvik |
| Lat/Long WENS | -134.5000 -134.0000 68.5000 67.5000 |
| Subjects | geophysics; satellites; satellite imagery; remote sensing; radar methods; radar imagery; RADARSAT-2; ALOS PALSAR |
| Illustrations | location maps; tables; histograms; graphs |
| Program | Remote Sensing Science |
| Released | 2011 01 01 |
| Abstract | In this paper we discuss the importance of microwave wavelength in terms of the interaction of microwaves with river ice cover and demonstrate its effect through combined analysis of RADARSAT-2 data
(C-band, 5.55 cm nominal wavelength), ALOS PALSAR data (L-band, 23.62 cm nominal wavelength), and ground reference data for ice covers found in the Middle Channel of the Mackenzie River at Inuvik. The operating wavelength of a given SAR system
governs its depth of penetration and affects its sensitivity to surface roughness and the presence of volume scatterers (e.g. air bubbles in the case of river ice). Our results show that RADARSAT-2, thanks to its shorter operating wavelength, offers
more potential for the classification of river ice cover types than ALOS PALSAR. The HV-polarisation represents the best performing linear polarisation but performs less well than selected polarimetric variables. Both RADARSAT-2 and ALOS PALSAR
backscatter measurements are found to make rather weak predictors of river ice cover thickness. To a large degree this is due to the very strong effect of ice structure on radar backscatter. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 289264 |
|
|