Seasat scatterometer observations of sea ice

Seasat I scatterometer data collected over the Beaufort Sea are analyzed and compared with a simple theoretical model that includes surface roughness and volume scattering. The values of the root-mean-square (rms) surface slope of roughness and the volume scattering albedo are adjusted to fit the data. With qualifications imposed on the theoretical assumptions, the data are well modeled by the two parameters and the sensor offers a physically based means to monitor the statistical properties of sea ice using satellite scatterometers, such as the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) and the NSCAT, which collected data from the Japanese ADEOS I spacecraft.