Sea ice monitoring by L-band SAR: an assessment based on literature and comparisons of JERS-1 and ERS-1 imagery

Dierking, Wolfgang; Busche, Thomas

doi:10.1109/tgrs.2005.861745

Cited by 76 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…With the advent of new spaceborne polarimetric SAR sensors, investigation in the field of sea ice classification was continued. The work of [29,37] which compare JERS-1 L-band polarimetric data with C-band ERS data shows the suitability and differences of SAR for identification of sea ice structures. The features used for discrimination (in a decision tree) used in [29,37] comprise intensities, phase differences and intensity ratios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Near Coincident Space Borne C and X Band Fully Polarimetric SAR Data for Arctic Sea Ice Classification

Ressel

Singha

2016

Remote Sensing

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This work compares the polarimetric backscatter behavior of sea ice in spaceborne X-band and C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. Two spatially and temporally coincident pairs of fully polarimetric acquisitions from the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X and RADARSAT-2 satellites are investigated. Proposed supervised classification algorithm consists of two steps: The first step comprises a feature extraction, the results of which are ingested into a neural network classifier in the second step. Based on the common coherency and covariance matrix, we extract a number of features and analyze the relevance and redundancy by means of mutual information for the purpose of sea ice classification. Coherency matrix based features which require an eigendecomposition are found to be either of low relevance or redundant to other covariance matrix based features, which makes coherency matrix based features dispensable for the purpose of sea ice classification. Among the most useful features for classification are matrix invariant based features (Geometric Intensity, Scattering Diversity, Surface Scattering Fraction). This analysis reveals analogous results for all four acquisitions, in both X-band and C-band frequencies. The subsequent classification produces similarly promising results for all four acquisitions. In particular, the overlapping image portions exhibit a reasonable congruence of detected ice types.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Near Coincident Space Borne C and X Band Fully Polarimetric SAR Data for Arctic Sea Ice Classification

Ressel

Singha

2016

Remote Sensing

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“…A general description of various aspects of radar remote sensing of sea ice is provided in Onstott (1992) and, with a focus on the Baltic Sea, in Hallikainen (1992). The benefits and disadvantages of Lband with regard to sea-ice observations are summarized in Dierking and Busche (2006). The most distinct characteristic of L-band in comparison to higher frequencies is the larger radar intensity contrast between deformed and level sea ice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of new spaceborne SAR sensors for sea-ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea

Eriksson¹,

Borenäs²,

Dierking³

et al. 2010

Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing

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Abstract. In this study, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and the Envisat, RADARSAT-2, and TerraSAR-X satellites were compared to evaluate their usefulness for sea-ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea. Radar signature characteristics at different frequencies, polarizations, and spatial resolutions are presented for three examples from 2009. C-band like-polarization data, which have been used for operational sea-ice mapping since the early 1990s, serve as a reference. Advantages and disadvantages were identified for the different SAR systems and imaging modes. One conclusion is that cross-polarized data improve the discrimination between sea ice and open water. Another observation is that it is easier to identify ice ridges in L-band data than in images from shorter wavelengths. The information content of X-and C-band images is largely equivalent, whereas L-band data provide complementary information. L-band SAR also seems to be less sensitive to wet snow cover on the ice.

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“…These areas show up as relatively dark areas, presumably because of relatively low specular reflection, in SAR images of both wavelengths. In general, Cband shows these features darker than L-band, as L-band will 310 cause more scattering from beneath the level surface (Dierking and Busche, 2006). In some areas level ice is relatively featureless and in others rather detailed.…”

Section: Level Icementioning

confidence: 97%

“…Observations of the Baltic sea ice are for winter navigation safety. Work has been done to calculate sea ice motion from two consecutive satellite images using different optical flow estimation algorithms (e.g., Fily and Rothrock, 1987;Vesecky et al, 1988;Liu et al, 1997;Karvonen et al, 2007;Thomas et al, 2011), and this approach has provided acceptable results using the C-band synthetic aperture radar, which is regarded as a good compromise for sea ice remote sensing (Dierking and Busche, 2006). This work will compare C-band (38-75 mm wavelength) with L-band (150-300 mm wavelength) for sea ice motion estimation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing C- and L-band SAR images for sea ice motion estimation

2015

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Abstract.Pairs of consecutive C-band synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images are routinely used for sea ice motion estimation. The L-band radar has a fundamentally different character, as its longer wavelength penetrates deeper into sea ice. L-band SAR provides information on the seasonal sea ice inner structure in addition to the surface roughness that dominates C-band images. This is especially useful in the Baltic Sea, which lacks multiyear ice and icebergs, known to be confusing targets for L-band sea ice classification. In this work, L-band SAR images are investigated for sea ice motion estimation using the well-established maximal crosscorrelation (MCC) approach. This work provides the first comparison of L-band and C-band SAR images for the purpose of motion estimation. The cross-correlation calculations are hardware accelerated using new OpenCL-based source code, which is made available through the author's web site. It is found that L-band images are preferable for motion estimation over C-band images. It is also shown that motion estimation is possible between a C-band and an L-band image using the maximal cross-correlation technique.

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Sea ice monitoring by L-band SAR: an assessment based on literature and comparisons of JERS-1 and ERS-1 imagery

Cited by 76 publications

References 47 publications

Comparing Near Coincident Space Borne C and X Band Fully Polarimetric SAR Data for Arctic Sea Ice Classification

Comparing Near Coincident Space Borne C and X Band Fully Polarimetric SAR Data for Arctic Sea Ice Classification

Evaluation of new spaceborne SAR sensors for sea-ice monitoring in the Baltic Sea

Comparing C- and L-band SAR images for sea ice motion estimation

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