Keywords

backscatter, oceanographic techniques, radar cross-sections, radar theory, remote sensing by radar, sea ice, water

Abstract

Polar sea ice characteristics provide important inputs to models of several geophysical processes. Microwave scatterometers are ideal for monitoring these regions due to their sensitivity to ice properties and insensitivity to atmospheric distortions. Many forward electromagnetic scattering models have been proposed to predict the normalized radar cross section (σ˚) from sea ice characteristics. These models are based on very small scale ice features and generally assume that the region of interest is spatially homogeneous. Unfortunately, spaceborne scatterometer footprints are very large (5-50 km) and usually contain very heterogeneous mixtures of sea ice surface parameters. In this paper, we use scatterometer data in a large-scale inverse modeling experiment. Given the limited data resolution, we adopt a simple geometric optics forward-scattering model to analyze surface and volume scattering contributions to observed Ku-band signatures. A model inversion technique based on recursive optimization of an objective function is developed. The result is a least squares estimate of three surface parameters: the power reflection coefficient at nadir, the rms surface slope, and the volume scattering albedo. Simulations demonstrate the performance of the method in the presence of noise. The inverse model is implemented using Ku-band image reconstructed data collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration scatterometer. The results are used to analyze and interpret σ˚ phenomena occurring in the Antarctic and the Arctic.

Original Publication Citation

Remund, Q. P., and D. G. Long. "Large-Scale Inverse Ku-Band Backscatter Modeling of Sea Ice." Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on 41.8 (23): 1821-33

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2003-08-01

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/1070

Publisher

IEEE

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

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