Science China Earth Sciences

, Volume 54, Issue 1, pp 113–118 | Cite as

Sea ice concentration over the Antarctic Ocean from satellite pulse altimetry

  • YuanDe Yang
  • E. DongChen
  • HaiHong Wang
  • DingBo Chao
  • CheinWay Hwang
  • Fei Li
  • SongTao Ai
Research Paper

Abstract

Sea ice concentration (SIC) is an important parameter in characterizing sea ice. Limited by the environment and the spatial extent of observation, it is difficult for field work to meet the needs of a large-scale SIC study. However, with its many advantages, such as the ability to make large-scale, high-resolution and long-duration observations, the altimeter can be used to determine SIC on a large scale. Using the correspondence between the satellite pulse altimeter waveform and reflector property, waveform classification is employed. Moreover, this paper develops an algorithm to obtain the SIC from altimeter waveforms. In an actual computation, Pyrz Bay in the Antarctic is taken as an experimental region, and one-year and seasonal SICs are derived from ERS-1/GM waveforms over this study area. Furthermore, altimetric SICs are compared with those of SSMR SSM/I. The results show that the spatial distribution and the regions of maximum SIC determined employing these two methods are consistent. This demonstrates that altimeter data can be used to monitor sea ice.

Keywords

sea ice concentration Antarctic altimeter waveform SSMR SSM/I ERS-1/GM 

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Copyright information

© Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • YuanDe Yang
    • 1
  • E. DongChen
    • 1
  • HaiHong Wang
    • 2
    • 3
  • DingBo Chao
    • 2
  • CheinWay Hwang
    • 4
  • Fei Li
    • 1
  • SongTao Ai
    • 1
  1. 1.Chinese Antarctic Center of Surveying and MappingWuhan UniversityWuhanChina
  2. 2.School of Geodesy and GeomaticsWuhan UniversityWuhanChina
  3. 3.Key Laboratory of Surveying and Mapping Technology on Island and ReefState Bureau of Surveying and MappingQingdaoChina
  4. 4.Department of Civil Engineering“National” Chiao Tung UniversityHsinchuTaiwan, China

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