Iceberg number density — Reaching a full picture of the Greenland waters

This study focuses on the distribution of icebergs within the waters around Greenland. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite imagery was used for iceberg (target) detection to generate a statistical picture of the spatial distribution of icebergs - aiming to cover the entire Greenland Waters. A target detection algorithm based on Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) techniques was developed and applied successfully on more than 8,000 SAR scenes over open water (sea-ice-free) areas. Sea-ice-masks based on passive microwave radiometer data were used to exclude regions with ice infested water. Percentiles of iceberg number density in 10 km grid-cells was derived and evaluated for the Greenland Waters. The results reveal significant differences between normal and more extreme iceberg number density in different regions around Greenland. This is important to consider in many iceberg-related aspects (e.g. studies of the mass balance of glaciers or planning of off-shore activities).