Detecting seasonal changes at Nordic latitudes using ERS-1 SAR images

Author

Weydahl, Dan Johan

Author_Institution

Norwegian Defence Res. Establ., Kjeller, Norway

fYear

1993

fDate

18-21 Aug 1993

Firstpage

1462

Abstract

Land areas at Nordic latitudes will be covered with snow and ice during the winter season. This paper addresses some features that have been observed in ERS-1 SAR images during the winter and spring 1993. It is found that the snow condition as well as the temperature of the ground will influence the backscatter values from both fields and open forest areas. High backscatter features may occur in ice covered lakes. These features are formed by cracks in the ice that have been frozen, or floes accumulated into heaps on the ice surface. The backscatter of these features can be 10-20 dB higher than the smooth ice surface. The radar backscatter from an inland glacier was found to not change significantly from January to March

Keywords

backscatter; geophysical techniques; glaciology; hydrological techniques; ice; lakes; radar cross-sections; remote sensing; remote sensing by radar; synthetic aperture radar; Arctic; Nordic latitude; Norway; SAR; backscatter; change detection; feature; forest; geophysical measurement technique; glacier glaciology; high latitude; hydrology; ice; lake; land surface radar imaging; radar scattering; season; seasonal change; snow; terrain mapping; vegetation mapping; winter; Backscatter; Ice surface; Image resolution; Lakes; Land surface temperature; Ocean temperature; Radar detection; Sea ice; Snow; Springs;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1993. IGARSS '93. Better Understanding of Earth Environment., International

Conference_Location

Tokyo

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1240-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.1993.322742

Filename

322742