A Meta-Analysis of Sea Ice Monitoring Using Spaceborne Polarimetric SAR: Advances in the Last Decade

Abstract

Sea ice profoundly influences ocean circulation, the polar environment, biology, climate, and commercial activities. The rapidly changing sea ice environment and increased human activities in polar regions drive the demand for sea ice monitoring. Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has been widely adopted for sea ice sensing due to its all-weather, high spatial resolution, and day-and-night imaging capabilities. Previous reviews have addressed sea ice sensing based on various applications and sensors. However, no meta-analysis has been performed to specifically explore spaceborne polarimetric SAR-data-based sea ice sensing. Therefore, this study aims to provide a meta-analysis of spaceborne polarimetric SAR-data-based sea ice sensing by investigating 182 articles published in the last decade. Sea ice sensing applications for retrieving four key geophysical parameters (sea ice types, concentration, thickness, and motion) as well as SAR scattering characteristics analysis for sea ice are included. The review database was created with 15 fields including quantitative and qualitative perspectives, such as SAR frequency, polarization mode, methodology, evaluation metrics, etc. This meta-analysis aims to provide comparisons among different techniques and identify current challenges to determine effective methods for sea ice sensing. Overall, a snapshot of spaceborne polarimetric SAR-databased sea ice sensing is presented through the meta-analysis, which could benefit researchers for future studies to advance this field.

Sea Ice Extraction via Remote Sensing Imagery: Algorithms, Datasets, Applications and Challenges

“…In contrast, active microwave remote-sensing techniques, such as SAR, offer higher-resolution capabilities. SAR technology can achieve resolutions at the meter level, making it highly suitable for fine-scale sea ice mapping [7,8]. As a consequence, current research on SIE predominantly focuses on the application of active microwave remote-sensing technologies, notably SAR.…”

“…The advancements of Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) data in SIE, ice concentration estimation, ice type classification, ice thickness inversion and ice elevation were reviewed. In [8], a comprehensive analysis of sea ice sensing using polarimetric SAR data was conducted. Key geophysical parameters for SIE, including ice type, concentration, thickness and motion, as well as SAR scattering characteristics analysis, were summarized.…”

Sea Ice Detection from RADARSAT-2 Quad-Polarization SAR Imagery Based on Co- and Cross-Polarization Ratio

“…Typical ML methods consist of a two-stage process. First, various polarimetric and texture features are derived from SAR images [20,21]. Specific polarimetric features include normalized radar cross section (NRCS), polarization ratio (PR), phase difference, correlation coefficient and parameters calculated based on eigenvalue decomposition, Pauli decomposition or Freeman-Durden decomposition methods [22][23][24][25].…”

A Spatiotemporal Comparison and Assessment of Multisource Satellite Derived Sea Ice Thickness in the Arctic Thinner Ice Region

“…However, these measurement methods face challenges in achieving relatively complete spatiotemporal coverage of SIT. The advancements in satellite products featuring high spatial resolution, extensive measurement range, and long time series are extensively applied in studies related to sea ice [21], [22], [23], [24]. Over the last two decades, several satellite derived SIT products have been developed.…”