A study of polar lows with synthetic aperture radar and GOES imagery

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is very effective at imaging polar lows over the ocean. The ScanSAR mode on the Canadian satellite RADARSAT-1, with its 500 km swath width, is large enough to cover small storms such as polar lows. The HH polarization of RADARSAT-1 resolves atmospheric effects remarkably well. A data collection effort that began in the winter of 1997-98 was continued for 1998-1999. In total, eleven polar lows have been imaged. This paper examines a polar low imaged by SAR on October 24, 1998, which was not observed using other standard data. This storm was approximately 130 km wide and exhibited a very distinct eye