Springtime C-band SAR backscatter signatures of Labrador Sea marginal ice: measurements versus modeling predictions

During the March 1987 Labrador Ice Margin Experiment (LIMEX ´87) two independent investigations were conducted to determine the C-band backscattering cross section of the marginal pack ice along the Newfoundland coast. In one experiment, data from a recently calibrated C-band airborne scatterometer were combined with C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to measure the normalized scattering cross section of the ice at incidence angles from 10° to 74° to within ±2 dB. In the other experiment, detailed measurements of ice surface roughness and surface properties were made and the radar cross sections were predicted from a scattering model. In the present study, measured and model results are combined and shown to be fully compatible. By extension, the results are expected to apply to any rubbled sea-ice surface when surface scattering dominates