Observations of the Antarctic ice sheet with the Seasat scatterometer: relation to katabatic-wind intensity and direction

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Abstract
The Seasat A satellite scatterometer radar, initially designed to measure ocean-wind intensity and direction, also provided observations on the Antarctic ice sheet. The signal of the back-scatter coefficient decreases strongly from 10 to −20 dB when the incidence angle of the observations increases from 0° to 65°. An additional 5 dB signal is found, which is correlated with the direction and intensity of katabatic winds, independent of the incidence angle and polarization of the signal. By using simplified models of the volume-scattering within the snowpack (which is mostly sensitive to snow grain-size) and surface-scattering from the air-snow interface (which depends on roughness), it is evident that the signal of the scatterometer could result from the effects of snow dunes at low incidence angle, and of micro-roughness and volume back-scatter at incidence angles greater than 25°. The instrument therefore provides a means of measuring the direction and intensity of katabatic winds.