Remote sensing of frozen lakes on the North Slope of Alaska

We used synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the ERS-2 remote sensing satellite to map the freeze condition of lakes on Alaska´s North Slope, the geographic region to the north of the Brooks Range. An image from March 1997, to coincide with the period of maximum freeze depth, was used for the frozen lake mapping. Emphasis was placed on distinguishing between lakes frozen to the lakebed and lakes with some portion unfrozen to the bed (a binary classification). The result of the analysis is a map identifying lakes as frozen to the lakebed and lakes not frozen to the lakebed. This analysis of one SAR image has shown the feasibility of a simple technique for mapping frozen lake condition for supporting decision making and understanding impacts of climate change on the North Slope.