Recent advances in satellite radar remote sensing of sea ice and forest

2011-12-12 14:00

Leif Eriksson, Earth and Space Sciences, will hold his "docent" lecture entitled "Recent advances in satellite radar remote sensing of sea ice and forest".

Abstract

Radar data from satellites can be used for observations and monitoring of a large variety of parameters that describe land, ocean and ice. Synthectic aperture radar (SAR) is a technology that is used to collect images of the Earth surface with fine spatial resolution. Since 2006 the number of satellites with SAR has increased rapidly and these sensors are operating at more frequencies than before and are capable of acquireing data at multiple polarizations and with finer resolution. Some of these satellites are also working in pairs or constellations that give shorter revisit time and improved performance for interferometric applications. The presentation will focus on two applications where the radar remote sensing group has evaluated the capabilities of these new satellites.

Since many years SAR data from satellites are used for operational monitoring of sea ice. In January 2007 a project started in Sweden to assess if monitoring and forecasting capabilities can be improved by the use of SAR data from the new, more advanced satellites. The main objective was to evaluate how multi-polarisation SAR data at L-band, C-band and X-band frequencies can improve determination of sea ice concentration, classification of ice types and detection of ice ridges. The intention was also to investigate the possibilities to use SAR data from new satelites as a complement and backup for the data that are currently used for operational sea ice monitoring.

In January 2005 the south of Sweden was hit by hurricane force winds, causing extensive damage to forests. To evaluate the possibility to use fine resolution SAR data for detection and mapping of wind-thrown forest and clear-cuts, an experiment was conducted at the forest estate Remningstorp in southern Sweden. Four areas with mature coniferous forest were felled in September 2009 and the trees were left on the ground to simulate the effects of a severe storm. SAR images were collected before and after the trees were felled. The trees were then removed and the clear-cuts were covered by new SAR images.

Results from these two projects will be presented and a brief overview of the most recent and near future capabilities of SAR satellites will be given.

Category Lecture

Start 2011-12-12 14:00

End 2011-12-12 15:00

Event location NEW LOCATION! Room EL42 in the EDIT-building (Linsen), Hörsalsvägen 11, 4th Floor

Campus Johanneberg

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