Passive microwave studies of frozen lakesLakes of various sizes, depths and ice thicknesses in Alaska, Utah and Colorado were overflown with passive microwave sensors providing observations at several wavelengths. A layer model is used to calculate the microwave brightness temperature, T sub B (a function of the emissivity and physical temperatures of the object), of snowcovered ice underlain with water. Calculated T sub B's are comparable to measured T sub B's. At short wavelengths, e.g., 0.8 cm, T sub B data provide information on the near surface properties of ice covered lakes where the long wavelength, 21.0 cm, observations sense the entire thickness of ice including underlying water. Additionally, T sub B is found to increase with ice thickness. 1.55 cm observations on Chandalar Lake in Alaska show a T sub B increase of 38 K with an approximate 124 cm increase in ice thickness.
Document ID
19800036077
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Hall, D. K. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Foster, J. L. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Rango, A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Chang, A. T. C. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Hydrospheric Sciences Branch, Greenbelt, Md., United States)