Title :
Radar backscatter measurements from RADARSAT SAR imagery of South Pole Station, Antarctica
Author :
Hong-Gyoo Suhn ; Jezek, Kenneth ; Baumgartner, Francois ; Forster, Richard ; Mosley-Thompson, Ellen
Author_Institution :
Byrd Polar Res. Center, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH, USA
Abstract :
Ice sheet backscatter around South Pole Station was measured from several different azimuthal angles using RADARSAT-1 SAR data. The authors observed strong azimuthal anisotropy (3-4 dB) between radar look directions across and along the prevailing wind direction. They speculate that the azimuthal variation of backscatter around the South Pole area may be largely attributed to systematically oriented sastrugi and buried sastrugi. Radar backscatter is well correlated with surface topography over a spatial wavelength band of 15 to 20 km. They propose that grain size variations control backscatter patterns associated with undulating surface topography
Keywords :
atmospheric techniques; backscatter; glaciology; hydrological techniques; meteorological radar; radar cross-sections; radar imaging; remote sensing by radar; snow; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; wind; Antarctica; RADARSAT; SAR imagery; South Pole Station; atmosphere; azimuthal anisotropy; backscatter; boundary layer; grain size; hydrology; irregular ridge; measurement technique; polar ice sheet; radar look direction; radar remote sensing; radsar scattering; sastrugi; snow cover; snow ridge; snowcover; snowpack; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; undulating surface topography; wind direction; wind feature; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Backscatter; Grain size; Ice; Radar imaging; Radar measurements; South Pole; Surface topography; Surface waves; Synthetic aperture radar;
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1999. IGARSS '99 Proceedings. IEEE 1999 International
Conference_Location :
Hamburg
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5207-6
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.1999.771509
