Active microwave measurements of Arctic sea ice under summer conditions

Radar provides a valuable tool in the study of sea-ice conditions and the solution of sea-ice operational problems. For this reason, the U.S. and Canada have conducted studies to define a bilateral synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite program. The present paper is concerned with work which has been performed to explore the needs associated with the study of sea-ice-covered waters. The design of a suitable research or operational spaceborne SAR or real aperture radar must be based on an adequate knowledge of the backscatter coefficients of the ice features which are of interest. In order to obtain the needed information, studies involving the use of a helicopter were conducted. In these studies L-C-X-Ku-band calibrated radar data were acquired over areas of Arctic first-year and multiyear ice during the first half of the summer of 1982. The results show that the microwave response in the case of sea ice is greatly influenced by summer melt, which produces significant changes in the properties of the snowpack and ice sheet.