RADARSAT SAR Sea Ice Deformation [H. Stern and Moritz, R.]

The Canadian RADARSAT satellite collected 195 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the SHEBA site between November 1, 1997, and October 8, 1998 (roughly one image every 3-5 days). The C-band (5.3 GHz) RADARSAT SAR imaged a swath on the earth 460 km wide (in ScanSAR mode) with a pixel size of 50 m, unhampered by clouds or darkness. The satellite data were received and processed into imagery at the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) in Fairbanks. Sequential pairs of images were then processed by the RADARSAT Geophysical Processor System (RGPS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena to derive the motion of the sea ice on a 5-km grid by tracking common features in each pair of images. Thus we have a year-long record of the spatial pattern of ice motion and the radar backscatter in the vicinity of the SHEBA site. Ice deformation (divergence, shear) and ice vorticity are computed from the RGPS ice motion products. This dataset contains 4 sea-ice deformation products containing divergence, shear, and vorticity values based on 4 square regions centered on the SHEBA station: 50 x 50 km, 100 x 100 km, 150 x 150 km, and 200 x 200 km. Additionally, there are 4 graphical products, one of each: divergence, shear, vorticity, and area.