Analysis of SAR Data of the Polar Oceans: Recent Advances

291 Pages·1998·8.944 MB·English

by  Professor Dr. Costas Tsatsoulis, Dr. Ronald Kwok (auth.)

Analysis of SAR Data of the Polar Oceans
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C. Tsatsoulis . R. Kwok
Analysis ofSAR Data
of the Polar Oceans
Recent Advances
i
Springer
Professor Dr. Costas Tsatsoulis
The University of Kansas
Department of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
Snow Hall
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-2228
USA
Dr. Ronald Kwok
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, California 91109-8099
USA
ISBN-13: 978-3-642-64334-7 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tsatsoulis. C. (Costas). 1962-
Analysis of SAR data of the polar oceans: recent advances / C. Tsatsoulis. R. Kwok.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-3-642-64334-7 e-ISBN-13: 978-3-642-60282-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-60282-5
1. Sea ice--Polar regions--Remote sensing. 2. Synthetic aperture radar.
I. Kwok. R. (Ronald). 1955- . II. Title.
GB2595.T73 1998 551.34'3'09U--dc21 97-37831
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List of Authors
Dr. David G. Barber John Falkingham
Centre for Earth Observation Science Canadian Ice Service
Department of Geography 373 Sussex Drive, Block "E"
University of Manitoba Ottawa, Ontario KIA OH3, Canada
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N 2, Canada E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Florence Fetterer
Dr. Scott Beaven National Snow and Ice Data Center
Naval Command, Control CIRES Campus Box 449
and Ocean Surveillance Center 1540 30th St, University of Colorado
Research, Development Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
Test & Evaluation Division D855 E-mail: fetterer@kryos. colorado.edu
53560 Hull Street
San Diego, California 92152-0001, USA Professor S. P. Gogineni
E-mail: [email protected] Radar Systems and Remote
Sensing Laboratory
Cheryl Bertoia Department of Electrical Engineering
U.S. National Ice Center and Computer Science
4251 Suitland Road, FOB 4 University of Kansas
Washington, D. C. 20395, USA 2291 Irving Hill Drive
E-mail: [email protected] Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Frank Carsey
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Richard Harding
California Institute of Technology Alaska SAR Facility
4800 Oak Grove Drive Geophysical Institute
Pasadena, CA 91109, USA University of Alaska
E-mail: [email protected] Fairbanks,AK 99775, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Ze Cheng
Senior System Analyst Benjamin Holt
EquiFax Company Jet Propulsion Laboratory
1000 Alderman Drive California Institute of Technology
Alpharetta, GA 30005, USA 4800 Oak Grove Drive
E-mail: [email protected] Pasadena, California 91109, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Mark R. Drinkwater
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 300-323 Dr. Ron Kwok
4800 Oak Grove Drive Jet Propulsion LaboratorY.300-323
Pasadena, California 91109, USA California Institute of Technology
E-mail: [email protected] 4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, California 91109, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
VI LIST OF AUTHORS
Prof. Shusun Li Dr. Leen-Kiat Soh
Geophysical Institute Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Alaska Fairbanks and Computer Science
P.O. Box 757320 The University of Kansas
Fairbanks,AK 99775-7320, USA Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Antony K. Liu Andrew Thomas
Oceans and Ice Branch Noetix Research Inc.
NASA 265 Carling Avenue, Suite 403
Goddard Space Flight Center Ottawa, Ontario, KIS 2El, Canada
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Costas Tsatsoulis
Prof. David G.Long Department of Electrical Engineering
Department of Electrical and Computer Science
and Computer Engineering The University of Kansas
Brigham Young University Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Provo, Utah 84602, USA E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Carl Wales
Tim Papakyriakou Alaska SAR Facility
Laboratory for Earth Obserations Geophysical Institute
Department of Geography University of Alaska
University of Waterloo P.O. Box 757320
Waterloo, Ontario N 2L 3Gl, Canada Fairbanks,AK 99775-7320, USA
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Kim C. Partington Prof. W. F. Weeks
National Ice Center 6533 SW 34th Avenue
4251 Suitland Road Portland, OR 97201-1077, USA
Washinton, D.C. 20395, USA E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Professor Dale P. Winebrenner
Chich Y. Peng Polar Science Center
Oceans and Ice Branch Applied Physics Laboratory
NASA University of Washington
Goddard Space Flight Center 1013 NE 40th Street
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA Seattle, Washington 98105, USA
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: dpw@apl. washington.edu
Dr. Anthony J. Sephton
Space Systems Finland
Keilaranta 8
FIN-02150 Espoo, Finland
E-mail: tony.sephton@ssffi
Contents
1 Recent Advances in the Analysis of SAR Data of the Polar Oceans . . . . . . . . . . 3
C. Tsatsoulis and R. Kwok
2 Identifying Ice Floes and Computing Ice Floe Distributions
in SAR Images ........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
L.-K. Soh, C. Tsatsoulis, and B. Holt
3 Role of SAR in Surface Energy Flux Measurements Over Sea Ice ........... 35
D.G. Barber, A. Thomas, and T.N. Papakyriakou
4 Extraction of Intermediate Scale Sea Ice Deformation Parameters from
SAR Ice Motion Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 69
S. Li, Z. Cheng, and w.P. Weeks
5 Fusion of Satellite SAR with Passive Microwave Data
for Sea Ice Remote Sensing ........................................... 91
S. G. Beaven and S.P. Gogineni
6 Wavelet Analysis of SAR Images in the Marginal Ice Zone ................ III
A.K. Liu and C. Y. Peng
7 Mapping the Progression of Melt Onset and Freeze-Up on Arctic Sea Ice
Using SAR and Scatterometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. l29
D.P. Winebrenner, D.G. Long, B. Holt
8 Satellite Microwave Radar Observations of Antarctic Sea Ice .............. 145
M. R. Drinkwater
9 Alaska SAR Facility: The US Science Center for Sea Ice SAR Data .......... 189
P. Carsey, R. Harding, C. Wales
10 Polar SAR Data for Operational Sea Ice Mapping ........................ 201
C. Bertoia, J. Falkingham, P. Fetterer
11 The RADARSAT Geophysical Processor System ......................... 235
R.Kwok
12 Towards Operational Monitoring of Arctic Sea Ice by SAR ................ 259
A.J. Sephton and K.C. Partington
Author Citation Index ................................................... 281
Subject Index ........................................................... 287
We dedicate this editorial work to our children.
CHAPTER 1
Recent Advances in the Analysis of SAR Data
of the Polar Oceans
C. TSATSOULIS AND R. KWOK
Contents
1.1 Sea Ice and Climate 3
1.2 Synthetic Aperture Radar Remote Sensing of the Sea Ice Cover. . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Analysis of Sea Ice SAR Data ........................................ 5
1.4 This Book ........................................................ 6
References 8
1.1
Sea Ice and Climate
Studies of the behavior of the world's sea ice cover are particularly important because
sea ice, with its associated snow cover, serves as an insulative layer separating the frigid
Arctic atmosphere from the relatively warm underlying ocean. In fact, the heat fluxes
through typical thick multiyear ice are two orders of magnitude less than fluxes
observed under equivalent meteorological conditions through newly formed ice leads.
Even though the areal coverage by thin ice is small (several percent) in the Arctic, the
integrated flux through this area would be comparable to that through thicker ice. The
presence of sea ice cover also changes the surface albedo from a value of 0.15 (for open
water) to 0.84 (dry snow on the surface of sea ice). Therefore, decreases in sea ice extent
and thickness caused by climatic warming would result in a pronounced positive feed
back amplifying the observed change. A warming trend would be expected to result in
a decrease in the extent and thickness of sea ice, in turn causing further atmospheric
and oceanic warming and thus contributing to even further decreases. It is this sea ice
feedback that contributes to the increases in mean annual temperatures that have been
projected in simulations changes in global climate (Manabe and Stouffer 1980). In the
Greenland Sea, where Arctic sea ice exported through the Fram Strait encounters the
warmer North Atlantic water, there is net ice melt. It appears that deep convection -the
mixing of surface water with deep ocean water -in the Greenland and Iceland Seas is
conditioned by freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean. This melt process may be
important in maintaining the stratification of the ocean in this area, thus preventing
significant overturning (Aagaard and Carmack 1994). It was hypothesized that at some
level of increased export of ice, convection would cease; the northward transport of
Atlantic water would decrease; and the climatological ice cover would spread south
ward. Conversely, if the export were to decrease, a northward movement of the ice cov
er would be expected due to a weakening of the stratification in the Eurasian Basin.
Analysis of SAR Data of the Polar Oceans
Edited by C. Tsatsoulis and R. Kwok
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998
4 c. TSATSOULIS AND R. KWOK
Based on such analyses, sea ice extent and thickness would appear to be sensitive
indicators of climate change, and this has resulted in considerable interest in develop
ing procedures for monitoring the extent and behavior of the sea ice cover. It is the intent
of this book to provide a survey of the procedures currently being developed for remote
sensing of the sea ice cover with synthetic aperture radar.
1.2
Synthetic Aperture Radar Remote Sensing of the Sea Ice Cover
In the early 1970S, the launch of polar orbiting satellites allowed sea ice studies using data
from visible and infrared imagery. However, sea ice data analyses based on visible and
infrared wavelength imagery are limited by cloud cover and the lack of solar illumina
tion during the polar winter. Extensive cloud cover during the summer months obscures
the ice pack a large percentage of the time. These limitations have led to increased reliance
on sensors from the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The first sensor to provide day/night large scale remote sensing of sea ice cover was
the Electronically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR), which flew from 1973 to
1976. This sensor was replaced by the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer
(SMMR) which provided an almost continuous record of observations from 1978 to 1987.
Current passive microwave observations are provided by the series of Special Sensor
Microwave Imager (SSM/I) instruments operated by the Defense Meteorological Satel
lite Program. These passive microwave sensors are of fairly coarse resolution and are
affected by atmospheric water vapor and cloud water content. Analyzed sea ice prod
ucts of ice concentration and ice types are routinely produced on a 25-km grid.
In 1978, the polar orbiting SEASAT satellite carrying an L-band synthetic aperture
radar (SAR) produced the first high resolution imagery for observation of the Earth's
surface from space. SEASAT imaged a 100-km-wide swath at 25-m resolution. Although
it operated for only 90 days, SEASAT collected a sizable volume of data which con
tributed to furthering the understanding of SAR and its applications. With its moderate
frequency, the L-band waves penetrated relatively deeply into the older, low salinity ice,
so that volume scattering from the inhomogeneities gave a significant return. This pro
vided a marked contrast between the backscatter of first-year and multi-year sea ice,
allowing investigators an alternate view of the ice cover to that provided by passive
microwave observations. It was also shown that high resolution ice motion could be
observed in successive SAR observations. This SEASAT dataset clearly demonstrated dIe
potential of SAR for both research and operational applications in ice-covered waters.
In 1983, the Soviet Union launched the first KOSMOS-1500 OKEAN satellite with an
X-band side looking radar (SLR, sometimes referred to as real aperture radar, RAR).
Although the resolution was relatively coarse (2.5 km along-track, 1.3 km cross-track),
its 450-km-wide swath provided the first true synoptic scale radar images of the earth.
There have been several OKEAN satellites, with a continuous series of improvements
to the radar complement. Ukraine has taken over responsibility for the OKEAN series,
and the latest satellite offers X-band SLR with two 700-km swaths and spatial resolu
tion of about 1 km at the near range. The Soviet Union launched KOSMOS-1870 carry
ing a SAR that operated in S-band in 1987. It had a very narrow 30-km-swath and fea
tured 25-m spatial resolution. This instrument evolved into ALMAZ-1, which was
launched in 1991. ALMAZ-1 used the same S-band (10 cm) wavelength, but had an