Marginal ice zone signatures observed by the ERS-1 SAR during SIZEX ´92

Coincident ship based X-, C-, and L-band scatterometer data and measurements of physical ice and snow properties were collected during ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) overflights in the Barents Sea in March of 1992. One aspect of this Seasonal Ice Zone Experiment (SIZEX) concentrated on the marginal ice zone (MIZ), where a variety of sea ice types and open ocean conditions were encountered. A specific objective of SIZEX was to determine which MIZ ice types can be clearly discerned using ERS-1 SAR C-band imagery. First- and second-order statistics were generated to characterize ERS-1 ice signature. Comparing these statistics for each ice type, reveals that many of the ice types observed in the MIZ have comparable tones, as indicated by their means (i.e., multiyear and pancakes). However, the use of the SAR image texture may be used in conjunction with the tonal properties to successfully discern the various ice types and open water (all wind regimes) found in the MIZ