3-D imaging of sea ice using ground-based tomographic SAR data and comparison of the measurements with TerraSAR-X data

In this paper we present experimental results relative to the vertical structure of snow covered sea ice, sensed with X-band microwaves in a tomographic configuration. The available data are from a Ground-Based SAR campaign carried out by a team from the IETR, University of Rennes 1 in March 2013, over Kattfjord, Tromso, Norway, in collaboration with members of the EO lab at University of Tromso. Direct imaging of the vertical structures of the snow and sea ice layers is achieved by focusing the signal from a 2D synthetic array in the 3D space. The effect of propagation velocity in the focusing process is investigated and the tomograms are effectively corrected for this effect. The vertical structure of the medium reveals a strong response from sea ice. The effect of Brewster angle on the appearance of the tomograms is also investigated. Tomograms at two different polarizations are investigated and compared with dual-pol TerraSAR-X measurements.