Theoretical and Experimental Study of Radar Backscatter from Sea Ice
- 1 January 1984
- report
- Published by Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)
Abstract
A model is described for the radar backscatter from first-year and multiyear sea ice, based on simple scattering layers. The physical-optics model using an exponential correlation function is shown able to predict the signatures of first-year ice. The radiative transfer volume-scatter model can describe the backscattering from multiyear ice for frequencies higher than about X-band, while the surface scattering contribution has to be included for lower frequencies. A simple semi-empirical model is shown to be a good approximation to the radiative transfer model in describing the volume scattering contribution of multiyear ice. A parametric study was conducted to determine the possible ranges of sigma-o for multiyear ice and first-year ice using the theoretical models. Within reported ranges of values of physical characteristics of sea ice, the theoretical model behavior confirms the experimental findings that Ku- and X-band frequencies, and incidence angles larger than about 30 deg to 40 deg, are better than lower frequencies in discriminating multiyear ice from first-year ice.Keywords
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