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Microwave radar and radiometric remote sensing measurements of lake ice
Author(s) -
Swift C. T.,
Jones W. L.,
Harrington R. F.,
Fedors J. C.,
Couch R. H.,
Jackson B. L.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl007i004p00243
Subject(s) - nadir , remote sensing , radar , radiometer , specular reflection , attenuation , geology , radiometry , radiometric dating , environmental science , microwave , meteorology , optics , satellite , geography , physics , telecommunications , quantum mechanics , astronomy , computer science
Simultaneous microwave radar and spectral radiometric data were collected over Lake Erie during March 1978. A theoretical development is presented which interprets the data collected at nadir in terms of changes in the ice thickness and the electromagnetic attenuation coefficient. The theory also addresses the failure of the spectral radiometer to determine ice thickness through observations of quarter wavelength excursions in the reflectivity. Radar data collected off‐nadir showed a substantially different behavior compared to that collected near nadir. This difference is attributed to a change in propagation characteristics from quasi‐specular return from the ice‐water interface to scattering from the rough air‐ice interface.